


waiting for your call

by aquariusblues



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: M/M, Rivals to Friends to Lovers, and want to play together, baseball au based on daiya no ace!!, but they play in different schools, hehe, im a baseball nerd.. you have been warned, soonyoung is a pitcher and jihoon is a catcher
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-25
Updated: 2020-11-29
Packaged: 2021-03-10 07:15:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 44,694
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27709595
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aquariusblues/pseuds/aquariusblues
Summary: "My pitches are some of the best in our generation! You don't just guess them!""Well," Jihoon shrugs. "I'm a pretty good catcher myself. I guess."Soonyoung's eyes go hungry at those words but before he can say anything, his coach calls him over for warm-up."You should catch for me one day," Soonyoung says. Then his eyes shift, narrowing in a fiery, burning way. "I'll make sure you do."
Relationships: Kwon Soonyoung | Hoshi/Lee Jihoon | Woozi
Comments: 90
Kudos: 297





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> hello everyone!! this my humbe way too long contribution for the the big screen soonhoon fest~ it's based on daiya no ace a baseball sports anime aka the other loml (please watch it)
> 
> a big thank you to madi, erica and chrisi who read through this mess and helped me make sense of it. love u all sm<333
> 
> since there's a lot of terminology i'm going to add a small glossary in no particular order:
> 
> a battery: refers to the pitcher and catcher. when they play together, they for a battery  
> ace: main/star pitcher of a team  
> clean-up: the most powerful hitter, usually batting 4th or 5th, their job is to bring runs in!  
> the baseball diamond has four bases: catcher at home base, and one on each other base as well as a shortstop who is mostly placed between 1st and 2nd  
> homerun: a powerful hit that flies out of the park (the whole field). it's an automatic point and anyone currently on bases automatically scores too  
> RBI: runs-batted-in, when the batter hits, and someone currently on base scores that's an RBI, if two people currently score, it's a double RBI, etc.  
> foul: when the batter hits the ball but it flies into foul territory  
> strike: when the batter swings but misses, or when the pitch is within the strike zone but the batter doesn't swing  
> ball: when the batter doesn't swing, and the ball is outside the strike zone  
> southpaw: a left-handed pitcher  
> the goal in baseball is to score runs (a point), so you want to hit and run! the pitcher has to make sure nobody hits, of course, while the catcher calls the shots (which pitches to throw). each batter has three strikes before they're out – a foul is counted as strike and four balls means the batter can walk (four bad pitchers, batter automatically goes to first base). once on a base, if the ball is either caught mid-air after hit, or caught by a base man before the runner hits, the player is out.  
> three outs and the sides switch! if by mid-game the score difference is too high, sometimes the game will be called without continuing. 
> 
> i hope that's enough random info to help, if you have something that was supr confusing please leave a comment, i'll make sure to add it here or explain to you :) 
> 
> it's nice to be publishing soonhoon again after a while, so i hope it's an enjoyable read for everyone despite it being very self-indulgent >.< happppy reading as always!!!

"Hey, you! How did you know I was going to pitch to the left corner?" 

Jihoon looks up from where he's retying his shoes. There's a boy hovering over him, uniform a deep blue with bright yellow lines. The setting sun shines right over his head and Jihoon has to squint to see him more clearly. 

"What?" 

"I pitched to the left corner for the first time in the whole game and you _knew_! You hit it right off!" 

Oh, right, Jihoon thinks. It’s the pitcher from the scrimmage earlier. In his short baseball playing life, Jihoon has already learned that pitchers have the most insufferable and proud personalities. Just like any pitcher, this one also thinks the world revolves around his one pitch to the left corner. 

"Lucky guess," Jihoon says, tightening the laces on his shoe before he ties them in a perfect bow. 

"Don't lie to me!" 

Jihoon stands up, pulling his duffel bag strap over his shoulder, snug over his chest, searching for his parents in the crowd. "I really need to–" 

"Tell me how you knew!" 

Jihoon sighs, looking over at the pitcher. His cheeks are puffed and he's frowning, watching Jihoon with a determined glare, unrelenting. 

"You moved your foot towards the left briefly before pitching. That's not really a sign for anything, I don't know you as a pitcher, but I thought it was worth a shot." 

The boy looks speechless for a second but then he breaks into a smile, nodding. "Thanks for the tip!" 

"Uh-huh... No problem," Jihoon swallows, looking around again, hoping to see his mom's deep purple car in the parking lot. 

"What's your name?" 

"Huh?" 

"Which middle school do you go to?" 

"I..." 

"Soonyoung!" Someone calls and the pitcher – Soonyoung, Jihoon guesses – freezes, and then scowls. 

"Whaaaaaaaat?" 

"Stop bothering people!" Another boy comes over and gives Soonyoung a light slap on the head. Jihoon recognizes him as the batter from Soonyoung’s team who hit something resembling a homerun, at least for middle schoolers. "Let's go. Mom's waiting." 

Soonyoung rubs his head, still scowling, then looks over at Jihoon and gives him a small, sheepish smile. 

"See you around?" 

Jihoon nods awkwardly, and watches Soonyoung get dragged away by the other kid. 

"Who was that?" Wonwoo asks, approaching suddenly.

"The pitcher from the team we played." 

"Ah." 

"Wanna get a ride with my dad?" 

"My mom should be coming." 

"Okay," Wonwoo says, but doesn't leave, waiting as Jihoon takes his phone out of his bag and texts his mom a question mark. 

_oh honey i'm so sorry, i'm running late. i'll be there in twenty minutes, do u have some money? get yourself some food, i'll be right there. unless maybe wonwoo can take you? let me know!_

Jihoon takes an extra few minutes to read through the text, finally making himself look up at Wonwoo with a small smile and Wonwoo smiles back, understanding. 

"Let's go," he says and Jihoon follows. 

⚾

There are a lot of scrimmages between middle schools in the Seoul area. The tournaments are small and not as structured as they will be in high school, but as long as Jihoon gets to play, he doesn't mind. The games are frequent, too. It keeps the kids entertained more than practice or organised tournaments would. There are still a few competitions at the end of the year, mostly to up the morale and let high school scouts check out middle school players, but other than that it's just kids playing the sport they love. 

"Jihoon!" He recognizes the voice as that pitcher from a few weeks ago. He doesn't know the name of his school, so he's surprised to see him there. And that he remembers his name. 

"Soonyoung...?" 

"Yep!" 

"How do you know my name?" 

"Your friend Wonwoo told me!" 

Jihoon searches for Wonwoo in the crowd and sees him sitting quietly in the shade with the book he hasn't put down since they were picked up by a bus from school. He seems to feel Jihoon's gaze on him, raising his head to smile and then returns to reading. He probably just wanted to get rid of the loud kid by redirecting him to Jihoon. Some friend... 

"Are we playing against you today?" Soonyoung asks. 

"Probably." 

"Awesome! Just so you know, I won't let you hit off me again! It's a strike out for you!" 

God, he's loud... 

Soonyoung scowls as if reading his thoughts. "Is it a requirement to be quiet on your team or what?" 

"Soonyoung-ah! Stop bothering people!" It's the same guy as last time, giving him the same light slap on the top of his head and Soonyoung grabs at it, whining. 

"I'm making friends! He’s the guy who read my pitch!” 

"Well, you're easy to read, idiot," he says, but there's a warm hue of endearment in his eyes. "Especially with all your screaming.”

Jihoon actually smiles at that and when Soonyoung notices, he flushes red. 

"Shut up!" He hisses at the guy who only grins fondly and then stretches out his hand to Jihoon. 

"I'm Seungcheol, by the way, this guy's older brother. All complaints go to me since he won’t bother listening to anyone else." 

"Hi," Jihoon shakes his hand. "I'm Jihoon." 

"I know," Seungcheol nods. "Soonyoung has been talking about you non-stop. He keeps saying you're the only one in the world who predicted his inner pitch." 

"His foot shifted," Jihoon explains. "But really, it's just instinct." 

"You're humble," Soonyoung says. "My pitches are some of the best in our generation! You don't just _guess_ them!" 

"Well, I'm a pretty good catcher myself. I guess." 

Soonyoung's eyes go hungry at those words but before he can say anything, their coach calls them over for warm-up. 

"You should catch for me one day," Soonyoung says. Then his eyes shift, narrowing in a fiery, burning way. "I'll make sure you do." 

Jihoon stares back warily as Seungcheol drags Soonyoung over to their team and doesn't know what to make of Soonyoung's fiery gaze and burning promise. He goes back over to Wonwoo and sits next to him in the shade, opening the amino acid drink he got from the vending machine. 

"Why are pitchers so crazy?" He asks, and Wonwoo laughs and keeps reading his book until they're called for warm-up, too. 

The next few times he sees Soonyoung, it's only in passing. More one-sided promises from the pitcher that one day Jihoon will catch for him, or that they should stay after the games are over and try out a battery. It kind of makes Jihoon just a little uncomfortable, his own pitcher Mingyu is a demanding one but that's because they're on the same team. Soonyoung on the other hand...

"Is it even appropriate?" 

"You'll just catch for him? I don't see the issue," Wonwoo says while Mingyu scowls at them over Wonwoo's shoulder. 

"Are you cheating on me?" 

Jihoon flushes and nudges Mingyu who only barks out in laughter. 

"Do whatever you want, hyung! You'll come back to me at the end of the day, anyway." 

Jihoon licks his lips awkwardly and watches Soonyoung's team get ready on the other side of the field. It’s their first game against Soonyoung’s team since the start of the year. Jihoon is just a little nervous. 

Mingyu's pitching starts off the game and when Soonyoung comes up to bat third, he smirks down at Jihoon. 

"I wonder if I can read you just as well," he says lowly and Jihoon makes Mingyu throw his meanest crossfire, which Soonyoung can't hit. Nor can he hit Mingyu's regular fast balls and something tells him that it’s less of Mingyu's skill as a pitcher and more of Soonyoung's sucking as a batter. Either way, watching Soonyoung pout his way back to his dugout settles comfortably in his stomach. 

His own at-bat goes much better. Soonyoung starts off with his cocky grin and two beautiful inside pitches that Jihoon doesn't have time to even consider hitting. At the third pitch Jihoon swallows, bending his knees a little more comfortably and watches Soonyoung's stance. He's a good pitcher, but he wears his emotions on his sleeve and, although his gaze is sharp and narrow, his body is an open book. 

When his foot shifts left, his shoulders turn right. Jihoon doesn't bat, making it Soonyoung’s first ball of the game. 

The catcher below him whistles. 

"You got him," he says and Jihoon smiles, going back half a step to readjust and waiting for the next one. 

In the end, Jihoon can't hit off Soonyoung's pitch, but that's because Soonyoung's pitches became awful and erratic whenever Jihoon is at bat. He's walked twice.

"Were you reading me?!" Soonyoung demands after the game. Jihoon's team won by a few runs, barely scraping by against Soonyoung’s excellent pitching and Seungcheol's amazing hitting skills. 

"Yes," Jihoon says honestly, walking out of their dugout. 

"Catch for me." 

Jihoon looks helplessly around him but, somehow, nobody is there.

"I have to catch a ride." 

"Wonwoo said his mom will only come in thirty minutes."

Jihoon is speechless.

"I asked him yesterday if she could come later so you have time to catch for me!”

"You–" They have each other's numbers? How badly does this guy want Jihoon to catch for him?! "Actually, whatever. Fine. Until Wonwoo's mom comes, but, after that, leave me alone,” He huffs out, muttering an extra _jeez_ as he walks back to the dugout. 

Soonyoung grins, all giddy, and follows Jihoon to where Wonwoo has already settled with his book, as if he knew Jihoon would come back. 

"Did you make a deal with the coach too?” He asks Soonyoung when he notices a few adults from his team on the bench outside the diamond.

"Yes, actually! My coach is very interested in you as a catcher. Could give you some crazy connections for high school, this is a good thing!" 

Jihoon can't really disagree with that and mutters for him to go warm-up while he puts his catching gear back on. 

"I hate you," he tells Wonwoo when he comes closer, tightening his chest guard. 

"Sorry, he's persistent. It's better to just let him have what he wants. My mom will be here in thirty." 

Jihoon sighs, asking for Wonwoo to at least help him with the shin guards and once he's done he walks out onto the diamond, Soonyoung already standing on the mound, stretching his arms. 

"You ready for this?!" He yells way too loudly and Jihoon winces, crouching in his spot. He notices his coach is also there watching. Maybe this really is a good networking opportunity…

And anyway, Soonyoung is a pretty great pitcher despite it all, creating a battery with him truly is kind of exciting. 

"Are number signs okay?" 

"Sure! I can do six different pitches." 

_Six..._ Jihoon thinks. Mingyu can barely do three on good days. Maybe this guy is even better than Jihoon had thought. 

"Inside/outside fastballs and cutters, a sinker, and one four-seamer! In that order! I'm even working on a screwball!" 

Jihoon finds himself a little speechless again. That's a wide array of pitches, far more than a catcher could ask for, especially from a second year middle school student. And a screwball, too… Those are rare even in high school. 

"Alright!" He says in return, hoping the excitement in his voice isn't too obvious, but Soonyoung still grins as if it is. Damn it, pitchers really are a self-centered bunch. 

Jihoon calls for each pitch, one by one, surprised to find that it isn't just talk. Soonyoung can throw each one, and relatively well, too. Jihoon has had the chance to catch proper cutters and, sure, maybe Soonyoung's is a little too close to being a ball, but it's still pretty damn impressive. Jihoon readjusts his crouch and smiles, noticing Seungcheol on the side putting on a helmet, a bat leaning on his hip. 

"Pretty convenient that you have a powerhouse hitter as a brother," Jihoon says and Soonyoung grins at him with his whole face. 

"You know it!" 

With Seungcheol batting, Soonyoung's pitches become even more sharp and precise. Seungcheol even steps away from his inside cutter, despite it being a clear strike. 

"Damn it, I hate those things!" 

Jihoon isn't replying, though, staring at Soonyoung in slight awe.

"Did you really think he’s all just talk?" Seungcheol asks, while their coach comes up to Soonyoung to check his shoulder condition in case they should stop. He's probably pitched close to a hundred times today, that’s way too much.

"I wasn't sure." 

"He's probably one of the best pitchers in the Seoul area, if not one of the best in the country. He's got a lot of high schools already looking out for him. Even more than me! And I'm graduating first..." He whines about it, but overall seems more proud than upset. "You shouldn't underestimate him even if he can get a little annoying. Soonyoung's good. He'll be the best in the world one day." 

That's a good brother, Jihoon thinks, just as the coach tells them ten more pitches and that's it. Soonyoung looks annoyed, but when Jihoon gives him a thumbs up, Soonyoung seems to relax, smiling, and throws ten perfect pitches before they're told to stop. 

"Ahh, Jihoon!” Soonyoung joins him in the dugout, helping Jihoon with unfastening his guards before his hand is shoved away. “You're like a mastermind! You know exactly where to pitch to avoid the batter! I bet you couldn't tell, but that's the most lost I've ever seen my brother look! And I pitch against him all the time!" Despite his focus on Jihoon, he's being fawned over by his coach and Seungcheol as they put an ice patch on his shoulder. Jihoon is kind of surprised. He doesn't remember what school Soonyoung goes to, but considering they're only in middle school, that's pretty advanced prep – icing his shoulder, checking how many pitches he's thrown, Soonyoung having such an array of pitches at all. He's really being groomed into an all-star pitcher and, with his skill, Jihoon can tell why. 

"We made a good battery," he tells him honestly. 

Seungcheol seems to smile a little to himself, while Soonyoung's eyes widen, cheeks flushed as it is, turning even darker. 

"Jihoon! We should play again! You should come play with me! In high school! We could make a real battery. If we can shut Cheol down, imagine how many more people–" 

Seungcheol shushes him softly and gives him a bottle of water to drink instead of talking. Jihoon smiles awkwardly at him just as Wonwoo calls him over, waiting by the exit with his mom.

"I have to go. It was fun playing with you,” he tells Soonyoung, and pats his shoulder, adding a little teasingly, “partner.”

Soonyoung’s eyes widen and he clearly wants to get up after him but Seungcheol stops him. "At least give me your number!" 

"Get it from Wonwoo!" Jihoon yells back and jogs up to Wonwoo. 

"Sorry I took so long," he apologizes to Wonwoo's mom with a small bow. She’s probably been waiting for about thirty minutes now. Jihoon really does feel bad. After the first few times his own mom didn’t pick him up, Wonwoo’s parents have become his constant ride home. He doesn’t want to be any more of a burden to them. She smiles kindly, though, giving Jihoon a soft pat on the back as they walk to the car. 

"That's quite alright,” she says. “You looked like you were having fun.” 

It’s true, Jihoon thinks, glancing over his shoulder at Soonyoung and Seungcheol still bickering in the dugout. 

He really did have too much fun.

⚾

As fate would have it, Jihoon doesn’t get to play with Soonyoung again. His parents move to Busan in December, and Jihoon finishes middle school there. He joins a team, of course, but it’s not the same as playing in Seoul. The competition is easier, and the players don’t take the sport as seriously. The closest school that offers professional baseball is a sports academy in Daegu, but his parents don’t want him to move there, at least not until high school. Really though, they just thought he’d lose interest in baseball by then. 

It's a hard time – moving – especially since Jihoon does miss Seoul. He wants to stay at his school there and live with his aunt, but his parents refuse to leave him alone in the city, saying he’s too young. Whether Jihoon agrees with that or not... Well, he has an okay year and a half in Busan. The beach is nice, he supposes, but the rest just isn’t the atmosphere he wants for himself, even though the middle school pitcher he ends up playing with is an interesting one.

Wonwoo texts him a few months before middle school graduation, asking about his high school plans. They’ve texted a few times since Jihoon moved. It’s not that they were ever that close, but they did talk a lot about baseball so it makes sense for them to follow up on each other’s plans. South Korea’s baseball scene isn't that big after all, they're definitely going to meet on the field in high school if they keep playing. So they text about games and future plans. More often at the beginning, and less as the months go by. Jihoon isn’t good at keeping in touch with anyone, so it's nice to still have one string from Seoul tugging, asking how he's doing. 

_I was scouted by the sports academy in daegu_ , he texts curtly a few months before they graduate middle school, _parents are finally letting me go_

_that's awesome! i'm staying in seoul and I’ll definitely be joining my high school team. guess i'll see you on the big field :D_

_can't wait! ^__^_

It's a short exchange. Most of his conversations with Wonwoo are like that. But it's nice, too, to not need constant conversation to keep up with each other's lives. To keep up with a friend. 

It's not that Jihoon is bad at making friends, either, but something about his life in Busan always feels impermanent. He knows the people he plays with here will never be his team forever. Other than himself and the pitcher, nobody is really motivated about playing, which made sense for the small school Jihoon goes to. And Jihoon wants _baseball_. He wants a serious atmosphere for his favorite sport. 

A scout from Daegu Academy sees him at a scrimmage halfway through the year and expresses interest. Daegu is close enough to Busan and even offeres a scholarship, so his parents have little to complain about despite it meaning that Jihoon won’t stay in Busan. By the time December rolls around, Jihoon already makes up his mind. 

He meets Jun that first year in high school. He’s an International student from China, a sprinter who could get to second base even off a lousy bunt. There is also Joshua – a mass-RBI hitter who had trained in Los Angeles before being scouted for the high school scene here – and Jeonghan – the conniving second year catcher Jihoon will be replacing slowly next year. It's a strong team, they have a strong pitcher too. Jooheon is a southpaw, able to pitch over ten different types of balls and, although Jeonghan spends most of the time catching for him, Jihoon does get a chance to try as well. 

Jooheon is different from any other pitcher he's met before. His balls land in his glove with loud smacks and his height adds to the overall aura that nobody quite knows how to face in the beginnings of their high school baseball career. 

"Don't be scared to call the shots," he told fifteen-year-old Jihoon after their first game together. "You're the catcher. We work together." 

"Not many pitchers are nice like him," Jeonghan comments one day at the end of March as they are cooling down, running behind the rest of the team. "Pitchers are usually so demanding... But Jooheon-hyung is a good guy. He looks out for us. I think he's kind of obsessed with being the good hyung," Jeonghan snickers and Jihoon frowns at the attitude. Overall, he’s just glad he gets to play with a pitcher who’s being scouted by young leagues in the States and Japan this early in his third year. Still, to be polite, he nods and speeds up again, watching Jun running ahead of the crowd. 

He thinks of his own experience with pitchers. In middle school, he played with Mingyu – a tall southpaw who was clumsy with his control until he warmed up and his pitches picked up speed. He was lazy, though, didn’t appreciate practice. He mostly liked waving at his mom and little sister as they watched in the crowd. In Busan, he had played with Kang Daniel, probably the only person on his team who was actually any good. And still, he always complained that he didn't care for baseball, how he was going to switch to football once in high school. That kind of attitude is never fun to play with, Jihoon found, and it affected their team greatly. And well, the third one of course… 

Kwon Soonyoung. 

Jihoon probably should have answered Soonyoung's first message back in second year of middle school when he had texted, _where are you?_ when Jihoon didn't show up with Wonwoo at the regular competition. He didn't really know what to say back then. He didn't think it would really matter to Soonyoung to never see him again. 

_i'm going to a high school in seoul. i'm still playing baseball of course! are you?_

Jihoon did answer that one. It arrived in January that year, after two years of silence. Jihoon's number changed when he had lost his phone a few months ago, but Soonyoung still got his contact somehow... He probably asked Wonwoo for it again. 

_i'm still playing. i'm going to Daegu._

_what seriously? r u saying no schools in seoul scouted you?_

_What?_ Jihoon had thought, scowling. Daegu not good enough for the capital boy? 

Jihoon knew it was just an innocent question, doused in curiosity. But it was still annoying. This is what Jeonghan meant about pitchers – their cockiness, their in-your-face-I'm-the-center-of-the-universe attitude. It's even a headful to think about! Jihoon had laughed reading the text, it's been a while since he was confronted with someone so unapologetically _demanding_ in a way he hasn't met since. Pitching him his thoughts nakedly, pitching every sentence no matter how rude, how demanding, assuming the catcher will catch. 

_they did. i chose daegu._

_we could have played together again._

He was still thinking about it? It was flattering, really. 

_No thanks. a demanding pitcher like you would give me a headache_

Soonyoung had called then, but Jihoon ignored it. Heart hammering awkwardly. Why was he so... 

_Jihoonie is so rude! I know you had fun playing with me. Come to Seoul, my school is great too!!!!_

_sorry but this school offered me a scholarship and I took it. i'll see you on the field though_

Soonyoung's reply didn't come quickly. Actually it didn't come that night at all. Jihoon did wake up to a text the next morning, though. 

_really wanted to play with you but then you disappear overnight. hope you don't regret this lee jihoon, we could've made a great battery._

That was the last he had heard from him. 

What a confident guy, Jihoon thinks now, panting as he overtakes another first year. Soonyoung has always been very confident in his skills. Ever since thid year of middle school, all of his interviews have him standing tall and proud, calling himself the prince of the capital with a wide, friendly grin and fiery eyes. Even as a teen fresh in high school he had an aura around him that promised greatness in the future. Like Jooheon who was big and strong, and Daniel, popular and handsome. Except he was cute, too. He was charming. Jihoon’s team would watch his interviews before the tournaments even started, and laughed when Soonyoung's ears turned too red at the interviewer asking if he knows he has fans who call him _Hammchi._

"I'm no hamster!" He'd yell at the camera, pointing at the small tiger mascot below his school’s name. "I'm a tiger. A fiery tiger, a _tiger_! I will make your batter cower at the plate with my tiger gaze!" 

Well, Jihoon had yet to confirm that for himself.

⚾

The first time Jihoon sees him in high school, it’s nearing the end of April. 

The Hana Tigers are starting off the first Seoul Spring tournament, playing against an Incheon team, while the Daegu Sports Academy waits on the bleachers for their game later in the afternoon. Soonyoung is the starting pitcher, a big eighteen on his back. It’s surprising that he’s starting at all, considering he's a first year on the best high school team in the country. He really must have been pointedly scouted, his school advertising him as their up-and-coming ace even in such a small start of the year tournament where most first years don’t get to play. 

The Tigers score easily. Jihoon isn’t surprised to see Seungcheol and Soonyoung on the same team, and finds that Seungcheol’s batting has gotten even cleaner in the last few years. Plus, it seems like the other team is incapable of hitting Soonyoung’s fastballs. Jihoon wonders who the catcher is… He doesn’t recognize his name in the lineup. Must be tough to work with a star pitcher like that, though, especially since he sees Soonyoung shake his head at a few of his calls, making Jihoon snicker.

"Pitchers, right?” Jeonghan notices Jihoon’s little laugh. “If Jooheon-hyung shakes off one of my calls, I stand up and leave." 

Jooheon laughs and doesn't disagree. Joshua leans over the rail and watches the batter, eyes squinting as he judges the way his feet aren't the right width apart. Jihoon, though, only watches Soonyoung. The way his leg rises high in the sky, flexible and steady. The foot landing, raising the dirt of the mound and the ball flying at a speed that’s quite terrifying, considering he's still just a first year. 

Jihoon knows his mouth is open when he catches Jeonghan staring. 

"You've never seen him play before?” He asks, eyes narrowing.

"I played against him in middle school once, but..." He hadn’t realized how good he had gotten. 

The Hana Tigers win and Soonyoung’s grin is wide as he raises his arms and waves at the stands, before bowing with his team and shaking the opponent’s hands. Jihoon watches them organize themselves in the dugout and is surprised to see Wonwoo there. He knew he was staying in Seoul, he just never thought he'd play on the same team as Soonyoung.

"You know them?" Joshua asks when he catches Jihoon staring.

"I used to live in Seoul. Wonwoo and I played on the same team in middle school.”

"Maybe we’ll get to play them later on," Joshua flases is teeth, all friendly and kind, but Jihoon finds it hard to believe that he cares. Still, it’s true. If they keep winning, eventually they will play the Tigers.

"Right," Jihoon agrees, and turns away, before Soonyoung can see him, walking with his team to get ready for their own game.

Jihoon doesn't think about it again until they win their game and are taken to the inn they're staying at overnight and finally checks his phone. 

_we saw you playing today!! You should come say hi tomorrow =]_

It's Wonwoo of course, and Jihoon pockets his phone, not really in the mood to answer right now. Of course he _could,_ but does he want to… There is something nerve-wracking about seeing all of them again, although it's only been a year and a half. Wonwoo has always been a good friend, but Soonyoung's bright eyes and loud voice and strong pitches, those were hard to forget. It was even harder to forget when a few months ago he was texting him about playing baseball together again and Jihoon had turned him away. Pitchers are proud creatures. Jihoon doesn't quite know how to expect Soonyoung to react if they ever meet in person again. 

The next day they lose in the morning and leave the stadium before seeing the Hana Tigers play their game. Jihoon doesn’t want to see him. He doesn't want to watch Soonyoung pitch and think about how he had told him, _I hope you don’t regret this._

It's only the first tournament. There's still a lot to come. 

⚾

Jihoon doesn’t end up seeing their team much that first year. Surprisingly, they never end up playing against each other. Soonyoung plays as a relief pitcher in the second Seoul tournament and their team doesn’t even make it to the best eight, while the Daegu Academy brings the trophy home with Jooheon’s pitching and Jeonghan’s game calling. Then they are runner up in Busan’s President’s Cup in the summer, losing to a strong Busan team in the semifinals, and fall out in the quarterfinals of the Daegu Phoenix Flag tournament, saying goodbye to their ace and third years.

The Hana Tigers win that one, Soonyoung pitches the full game against the Busan team that won the Presidential Cup and wins with Seungcheol’s homerun. Jihoon watches the game on TV and it’s silent in the room as the Tigers are awarded. 

“Busan was strong but they still couldn’t win,” Jun says matter-of-factly and Jihoon nods. “And we have yet to play these guys… I bet they’ll be even stronger next year.” 

They’ve had a successful year overall, despite the upset in the Phoenix tournament. Their ace Jooheon was publicly scouted by teams in Tokyo and Jeonghan became the new catcher star in every small baseball magazine. Still, it's nothing compared to Soonyoung’s popularity. There's no Koshien in South Korea, people don't really follow baseball on a colloquial basis, but those who do – they know Jeonghan, and they definitely know Soonyoung. 

Hana Tigers were on the rise because of Kwon Soonyoung and his repertoire of pitches that took two hands to count. 

The Japanese high school baseball magazines called him a star. 

Hoshi. 

Tiger’s Gaze.

When Jihoon first heard of it from Jeonghan on a cold January night at the end of his first year, somehow he found that it fit Soonyoung. He always did seem to be too bright, all confident and brimming with energy.

"Maybe we'll finally play them next year," Jeonghan wonders, tapping the large printed picture of Soonyoung taking off his cap with a smile after their recent competition win even without the third years. Daegu didn’t participate in that one, choosing to focus on strengthening the team instead. And, well, without Jooheon, they no longer had a pitcher they felt confident competing with. 

"There's a pitcher coming for tryouts tomorrow, did you hear?" Jun asks Jihoon and Jihoon shakes his head. "Apparently they found him in some small country team. I hear he’s surprisingly talented."

"I'll look forward to it then," Jihoon says, and means it too. They really need a pitcher right now. 

⚾

Lee Seokmin is a surprising player. Surprising mostly because he looks like a total airhead but as soon as he had stepped onto the mound to show the coach his pitches, his eyes turned golden and he threw the strongest pitches Jihoon has ever received from a player so young. When Jeonghan switches with him, he grins the whole time. 

“I want him,” he tells their coach, after Seokmin leaves to be given a tour of the rest of the school and the coach nods, clearly he approved of him as well.

“You really liked him, huh?” Jihoon asks when they’re walking back to their dorms later. 

"A great, earnest pitcher is fun to have around. Clearly he'll raise morale, an ace in the making! Did you see how loud he is?" He asks with the biggest grin and Jihoon shakes his head with a small laugh. "Come on," Jeonghan nudges him. "He was fun to catch for! And he’s _good_ . I really want to win, you know? Plus, he looks like he'd be easy to control unlike Jooheon... Jooheon would never trust my calls, but Seokmin seems trusting, I love pitchers who _listen_." Jeonghan eyes him. “Have you ever had a battery like that before? When you receive a pitch and it sends shivers all down your spine... It’s the best thing I could ask for as a catcher.” 

Jihoon can't really disagree with that feeling. It's been a few years but he still thinks of that one night when he sat crouched in their small middle-school field and caught Kwon Soonyoung's pitches. 

"Yeah," he admits finally.

"Oh~? Does our Jihoonie have a pitcher crush?" Jeonghan teases with a small smile. 

"Not a crush, but I caught for Soonyoung before. It was fun." 

"Soonyoung, really?” Jeonghan’s actually shocked about that. “And you kept that from me all this time?! The star pitcher of the country right now... Is this why you avoid him? Because it was fun~?"

"I don't _avoid_ him," Jihoon meets his hyung's eyes sharply. "We live in different cities and we haven't had the chance to play against the Tigers yet." 

"Right," Jeonghan nods curtly. "And the other times they were in the bleachers and you didn't even spare them a look. I always knew that was weird, even though you said you knew them from middle school. Makes me think you aren’t telling me something... Forbidden romance perhaps~" 

"Your imagination is getting away from you, hyung. What romance?" 

"Well maybe not _romance,_ but having a pitcher you want to play with, form a battery with, that isn't an unnatural feeling." 

Jihoon thinks about it in silence for a moment. 

"Hey, Jihoon," Jeonghan says suddenly, a little too serious considering his light tone just earlier. 

"Hmm?" 

"Do you think you're going to play baseball professionally?" 

"Yes," Jihoon replies, without needing to think about it. "What about you?" 

"I wonder..." There's a teasing lilt to his tone again and then he's laughing lightly. "My shoulder has been feeling off, I have a joint there that's weak. It's not anything too bad, it’s manageable too, especially since I'm a catcher so, you know, it doesn’t get used too much." Jihoon’s heart stutters hearing that. He had no idea. An athlete's worst nightmare is to find out their body might keep them from playing. "Don't look like that, Jihoonie, it's unbecoming,” he pokes his cheek and Jihoon scowls, making Jeonghan laugh. “I just have to be more careful, maybe wear a brace. I was just surprised... Mostly because I didn't really care before, if I couldn’t keep playing, but now…" He licks his lips and ruffles Jihoon's hair. "Seriously, don't look so worried. I’m glad we’ll have Seokmin now, that's all. As much as us catchers are proud creatures, it's really the pitcher who has the power to affect the game the most. With their words, their throws, their willingness to listen to us. I think we're going to have a great year. I’m glad my last year will be with this team," he looks over at Jihoon and smiles as they reach the dorms, leaving him behind to go shower while Jihoon goes to his room first. 

There's a strange feeling in the pit of his stomach. 

Pitchers change everything... Right. Does Jeonghan really think he doesn’t have an unbeatable force on the team? As their new captain. As their main game-caller. Jihoon can’t even begin to imagine following in his footsteps, how their team will look without their center.

When Jihoon returns to his room, Jun is already there, texting on his phone, feet propped on his desk right by a magazine open on Soonyoung's double spread that Jihoon stops to read over. 

"He's awesome, isn't he?" Jun's head is thrown back, watching Jihoon upside down. "Can't wait to play him next year," he goes back to texting without waiting for Jihoon's response and the strange feeling keeps curling inside. 

_You miss that feeling_ , a voice echoes in his head when he's in the shower and Jihoon scowls, shampooing his hair harder. What is there to miss…? He’ll feel that again, with this new pitcher. With other pitchers. There's nothing more to it. It doesn’t have to be him. 

It _doesn’t_. 

⚾

The first game in Jihoon's second year is against the Hana Tigers, and maybe Jihoon should have seen this coming. His good luck had to end somewhere, after all. 

Jihoon can hear Seokmin’s voice a few seats ahead on the bus on their way over to the stadium, discussing the Tigers lineup with Jeonghan, and increases the volume of his own music. Before he can completely tune out, someone sits next to him and starts asking questions about Soonyoung’s team. 

Boo Seungkwan. Another first-year pitcher, although he’s still deciding between that or shortstop even with his strong shoulder. He’s also a great mood setter, not as pointlessly loud as Seokmin, and wittier about it, maybe less obnoxious. Another great ace contender, so Jihoon pulls the nice hyung act and tells him about the line up. 

Nothing much has changed in the few months between first and second year. The Hana Tigers have a few notable first-years in the roaster though, one is Mingyu, the southpaw pitcher Jihoon played with in middle school, a transfer student from China Jihoon doesn’t know much about, and a catcher who played in New York for middle school before moving back to Korea this winter.

Their own team doesn’t have new players in the starting lineup other than Seokmin and Seungkwan. Jihoon is curious how people will react to their new ace – all loud and shiny, but definitely impressive. He’s certainly a likable guy, too. The way Jeonghan doesn't let him away from his side is enough to prove that. 

Jihoon is interrupted when he starts talking about Soonyoung, by Jun smiling at him over his seat. "Nervous?" He asks. 

Jihoon wants to ignore him, but Seungkwan is watching curiously. "No, not nervous," he says. 

"You played with those guys in middle school, right?" 

"Just Wonwoo, their third base.”

“Really? Jeonghan says you know Soonyoung quite well.” 

“Not _well_ ,” Jihoon bites through his teeth and Seungkwan’s eyes widen. 

“You know Soonyoung?” 

“I don’t.” 

“Jeonghan says you played together.” 

“Jeonghan seems to have a lot of false information then,” Jihoon tries not to be pissy but he rubs his forehead, just a little irritated. “We played against each other maybe twice? That’s all.” 

“He’s a great pitcher! I like his personality, too.” 

“They have a new starter from China,” Jihoon says, not wanting to talk about Soonyoung anymore. “Maybe _you_ know _him_.” 

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Jun rolls his eyes. “China is huge.” He sits down in his seat again, leaving Jihoon alone with Seungkwan again. 

“I didn’t get to play with any big players in Jeju. It’s exciting,” he smiles, cheeks round and flushed. 

"I am excited, too,” Jihoon assures him. “I guess I'm not showing it enough." 

"I guess you just show it in different ways," Seungkwan grins wider and Jihoon smiles back. Maybe he really likes this first year, after all. 

Since the tournament is in Seoul and they’re taking the bus from Daegu. It’s a long ride, and when Seungkwan looks over the scorebook on his own, Jihoon lets himself lean onto the window and close his eyes. He stayed up way too late last night looking at the stats. Jun was right, he is nervous to play against Soonyoung. Against Wonwoo. Against Seungcheol’s scary bat. But he didn’t lie about his excitement either. It really was about damn time he met them on the field. 

⚾

"You shouldn't sleep before games," Joshua laughs when Jihoon is drowsy as he climbs off the bus. He's not the starting catcher today, so it's not a big deal, but he still excuses himself to go get a coffee from a vending machine. 

"I'll come with you, hyung!" Seokmin cheers. 

"Alright, alright..." 

"Get me some coffee too, Seokmin-ah~" Jeonghan calls. 

"Me too, Seokmin-ah~" Joshua copies with a grin.

Seokmin gives them a thumbs up, running up to Jihoon as he counts whatever spare change he was keeping in the outer pocket of his backpack. 

"Are you nervous for today, hyung?"

"Shouldn't I be asking you that?" Jihoon smiles. 

"Of course, I'm nervous. But I'm excited, too! I got all my teammates counting on me so I can't let you down..." He starts mumbling, focused on counting the coins and Jihoon can't help but smile. He really is a sweet one. Big, tall, handsome, but still kind of a child. 

Jihoon buys his coffee first, then presses the next button and lets Seokmin put in the change for three more while he cracks his own can open. 

"You'll be fine,” he says, lifting the can to his mouth. “Coach wouldn’t be so quick to show you off if you weren’t ready." 

"Lee Jihoon!" 

Jihoon is mid-sip when his name is called and he nearly chokes on the drink. 

"Oi, Jihoon! You can't ignore me in person if you're already ignoring all my texts!" 

The awkward swallow of his coffee is bitter in his throat. He notices Seokmin watching him curiously, then finally looks over his shoulder at their new little guest. 

"Soonyoung." 

"Would you look at that… He remembers me!" He's grinning as he comes closer and puts a strong hand on Jihoon's shoulder, jostling him a little. "It’s not very nice of you, you know? To ignore me. It's been years." 

"Haven’t had time," Jihoon mutters a lame excuse, hiding his awkwardness with another sip of his coffee and Soonyoung seems too happy to see him to care. 

Seokmin straightens out, clearly taller than Soonyoung despite being younger. 

"I'm Lee Seokmin," he introduces himself and Soonyoung's eyes widen as he looks over him, and finally shakes his hand. 

"I'm Kwon Soonyoung, Jihoon's first pitcher." 

Jihoon's jaw drops a little comically while Seokmin grins, all bright and excited.

"Oh my god, _really_?!" 

"No, not really! Don't listen to him," Jihoon warns and Soonyoung smiles cheekily. 

"We did play together once." 

"Key word: _once_." 

Seokmin laughs, but seems a little confused.

"That must’ve been nice. Jihoon-hyung is a great catcher," Seokmin adds, a little uselessly but Jihoon can't help but appreciate the sentiment. 

"You're not the starting catcher, though, right?" Jihoon would’ve passed the question as curiosity if Soonyoung didn’t look so… Disappointed. Or too much like he thinks he was right. That Jihoon is _regretting_ his choice instead of having a great time on his team. 

Okay... This guy is starting to seriously piss him off. 

"Well, that's 'cause Jeonghan-hyung is also amazing!" Seokmin says for him. 

"Hmm. If you were in my school, I'd make sure you were always my starting catcher," Soonyoung says, still looking right at Jihoon. 

Jihoon stares back, dumbfounded, then clears his throat. "Seokmin, could you give us a minute?" 

Seokmin watches Soonyoung with a sort of twisted smile, clearly unhappy about leaving Jihoon alone with him. Still, he gives out a short laugh and nods. "Sure thing, hyung. I'll go change." 

"I'll be right there." 

Seokmin offers Soonyoung a quick handshake and Jihoon notices the grip is hard. Maybe Seokmin has more of a backbone than he had thought. Good, Jihoon thinks. That’s necessary in an ace. 

"It was nice meeting you, I'll see you on the field!" 

"Of course," Soonyoung grins and as soon as Seokmin leaves, his eyes are back on Jihoon. "How've you been?" 

"What are you doing?" 

Soonyoung frowns. "What do you mean?" 

"You were never my pitcher, Soonyoung. We played in a battery _once_!" 

"But it was good right?" Soonyoung is shamelessly eager, taking half a step closer and Jihoon leans away. 

"Soonyoung..." 

"Why do you keep ignoring my texts? 

“We aren’t allowed phones in the dorms," Jihoon lies, a little too obviously.

Soonyoung's eyes narrow. 

"Play with me again,” he says, instead of calling him out on it.

"We're playing today." 

"You know what I mean. Let's form a battery again. I've gotten even better, I want you to see.” 

Jihoon is at a loss for words. He doesn't know if it's incredibly creepy or flattering that Soonyoung so desperately wants Jihoon's... Approval? Cooperation? Partnership? He isn't even sure anymore. 

"Let's make a bet," Soonyoung says when Jihoon doesn't respond. "If we win today, you form a battery with me again. And if you win... Well, you can choose!" 

_You leave me alone_ , Jihoon thinks, but the words won't come out. Soonyoung's insistence doesn't come from a bad place, Jihoon knows that, so he doesn't want to be mean. Instead he swallows awkwardly. 

"I'll think about it," he says, unintentionally agreeing to the bet and Soonyoung's grin is bright. 

"Nice! We won't lose, by the way," he adds with a quick wink. 

"Uh-huh... Seokmin's a great pitcher, don't underestimate him just because he's a year younger." 

"Sure, sure! Oh and just so you know, you won't be hitting off me this time."

Jihoon scoffs, taking a small sip of his coffee, and smiles. "We'll see about that." 

Soonyoung's smile is genuine and bright, it's unsettling. Jihoon walks away first, and waves when Soonyoung says he'll see him later. 

At the changing rooms, his team is divided between wariness and teasing. 

"How chummy are you with the Tigers, really?" Jun asks.

"Not at all." 

"They seem to know you very well," Jeonghan adds. 

"In middle school I played with Wonwoo and Mingyu,” Jihoon says, for the umpteenth time.

“Soonyoung said you formed a battery with him before,” Seokmin is buttoning his shirt so he doesn’t notice Jihoon’s furious glare.

 _That’s_ new information for the whole team. 

“Well, well, well,” Jun breaks the silence and Jihoon feels a cold shiver run down his spine. 

“It’s not–“ 

“Why are you hiding it then, if it’s not a big deal?” Joshua asks, offhandedly, as he pulls on his cleats. 

"You know playing against each other and playing _together_ is quite different, _"_ Jeonghan wiggles his brows and Jihoon looks away, disliking the way his cheeks feel warm. 

"Do you need to say it like _that_? We just formed a battery after a game once, you already knew that." 

“And it was just _fun_ , right?" Jeonghan asks, sitting down on the bench near Jihoon, and making himself pointedly comfortable as some of the team starts leaving one by one. Jihoon makes a mental note to only be nice to Seungkwan from now on, the good dongsaeng knows to stay in his own lane. Jihoon switches shirts and pants and when he turns around, Jeonghan is clearly still waiting for an answer.

"It was okay. I still don’t get all your pitcher-catcher talk."

"Suuuuure..." 

Jihoon buttons the last of his shirt, and scowls, hoping his face doesn’t reveal anything about how warm he feels. 

"Let's just play a good game,” he says finally.

"What? Did you make a bet or something?" Joshua asks, zipping up his bag, and Jihoon gives them an awkward smile, not denying it and ignoring when his teammates laugh. 

"Yeah, yeah, hilarious... Let's just get this over with," he begs quietly and walks out, ignoring his hyungs snickering together and finds endless comfort in Seungkwan's kind smile when he comes into the dugout. 

Out on the field, Soonyoung is already warming up with their first year catcher, Chwe Vernon. He’s not very tall, but he’s bulky. From the minimum research Jihoon has done, he knows he has gone to baseball camps in the States so his game-calling should be interesting. 

Jihoon looks over at their dugout and sees Wonwoo stretching next to Seungcheol and what looks like Mingyu, though he’s gotten much taller in the few years that Jihoon hasn’t seen him. Their eyes meet across the field and when Wonwoo waves, Jihoon waves back, which gets the attention of the other two as well, Mingyu waving the hardest.

"I asked coach to switch us around in the fifth inning," Jeonghan says, coming up from behind and Jihoon startles awkwardly. 

"Why?" 

"Well, you're a good catcher, right?” He teases. “Plus, you can hit off Soonyoung." 

"Why do you think so?" 

"You told me that's why he's obsessed with you." _Did I..._ Maybe Jihoon talks more about him than he realized. "Plus the Tiger first year is starting, so when they put Soonyoung on the field, we'll switch." 

"How do you know?" 

"Jun heard Soonyoung whining about it to their coach while warming up around the field. Must be upsetting not to play a game he _bet_ on." 

Jihoon clears his throat. "Right." 

Jeonghan laughs and pats Jihoon's shoulder. "Good luck to us. We'll back you up as always." 

“Thanks,” Jihoon replies weakly which only expands Jeonghan’s already teasing smile. 

The game is an annoying standstill the whole time. Mingyu is hard to hit off, not to mention Soonyoung, and Seokmin’s first game of the season has nobody expecting the repertoire of pitches he has. He strikes the Tigers out too easily.

At the bottom of ninth, Jihoon steps out to bat with full bases after Jun's hit sprint, Joshua's squeeze and Jeonghan's mediocre hit that a first year failed to catch. Getting hit several times in a row has Soonyoung clearly thrown off with the way he tugs his hat low over his face after each pitch. He’s too see-through… Jihoon is kind of glad to see that he still has a long way to go.

This set up… Jihoon can’t help smiling as he takes his stance in the batting box. Facing off against Soonyoung's twisted and overconfident smile, Jihoon kind of feels like destroying the light in those eyes. Not in a very bad way, but just in a way that would feel exciting. In a way that would get them the win. With how Soonyoung stares back, he thinks, maybe that's what he wants, too.

"What are you aiming at?" Seokmin had asked before he stepped out of the dugout.

"A homerun." 

"You’re cool, hyung,” Seokmin grinned and Jihoon smiled back. 

Now, standing here, he has to do it. 

The first pitch is a clean strike, and the second, too – an inside pitch, almost brushing against Jihoon's knees. He hears the first year catcher, Vernon, take a sharp breath and smiles. He knows a catcher's frustration with their pitcher when he hears it. 

"Is he not listening?" He mutters, more to himself since it’s unlikely the catcher will hear him over the crowd’s noise.

The third throw is a foul for another inside pitch. It flies awkwardly sideways and Jihoon swallows, straightening out and then leaning in again to focus on the next pitch. He can see Jun, impatient on third, and Joshua, arms folded across his chest on second. _Show off,_ Jihoon thinks, _focus on running, I'm about to hit a big one..._

Vernon and Soonyoung's eyes narrow unhappily. Jihoon knows he’s smiling but he can’t stop. He’s excited. Is Soonyoung going to throw what his catcher asked for? Or is he going to do whatever he wants? 

If Soonyoung wants Jihoon to ever catch for him again, Jihoon thinks he'll listen to his catcher. Forkball and inside were done already, they could go for an outside but Jihoon doubts they'd show him the whole repertoire. That’s why Soonyoung is so upset. Clearly he wants to show Jihoon something new with how desperately he’s trying to get him to catch for him. So what’s next? Jihoon thinks quickly. Vernon moves but Jihoon ignores it. He has noticed how much this catcher moves on the plate, a smart one, that guy. Confusing the batters. But Jihoon is smart, too. And he knows catchers. Catchers love consistency. If Soonyoung’s insides gave them a foul, the catcher will want one to be a strike, too. 

When Soonyoung winds up for a pitch, Jihoon steps slightly back right in time and swings confidently at a perfect inside. 

The ball clinks beautifully against his bat, arching over the field and right into the fence on the other side. 

"And it's a homerun!" The announcer screams through the stereo. "That's four points for Daegu Academy. Just like that, catcher Lee takes his team to victory!" 

Jun's laugh is loud in his ears as he runs past him, bringing in the first point. 

"Go run, superstar!" Jun yells, which finally takes Jihoon out of his stupor. 

Jihoon starts running to first with his fist up as his team cheers and the announcer bellows that they’ll be playing tomorrow’s game against the next winner. He only looks over at Soonyoung when he passes second. He has his face hidden under the rim of his hat, pitching hand squeezed into a tight fist.

 _Is he upset?_ Jihoon wonders, but when he runs past third, he finally sees Soonyoung's face under the shade of his cap. 

He's smiling. 

The fucker is smiling. Who the fuck smiles when their pitch gets hit off with a homerun? 

Their eyes meet when Jihoon crosses the plate, right before he's bombarded by the rest of the team, and although it's just the first game of the first second year tournament, not anything close to the big cups, whatever victory he had felt hitting that homerun, now feels unwelcome in his gut.

⚾

"You won," Soonyoung catches him outside the bathroom after the game.

"Don't tell me you threw that on purpose." 

"My inside pitches are too good for it to be some sort of fluke! How did you know?” 

"Just a feeling...” That’s the truth after all. 

“Well, you won,” Soonyoung says. “So I'm taking you out to dinner. Wanna go now?" 

Jihoon stares at him, a little dumbfounded. 

"No, I don’t _wanna go_ now," he practically spells it out for him. "It's four in the afternoon." 

Soonyoung’s head tilts. "That's fine, we can go later. Where should I pick you up from?" 

Jihoon stares but Soonyoung doesn’t get the hint, waiting for an answer. 

“What dinner, Soonyoung?” Jihoon practically grits out.

“You’re not going to choose your end of the bet, so I’ll just treat you to dinner. Easy!” 

“What if I have an end to my bet!”

“Oh?” Soonyoung’s brows rise. “What is it?”

 _For you to leave me alone!!!_ Jihoon thinks. But he can’t say it. 

Soonyoung smiles. “Cool. So I’ll text you?” 

Jihoon takes another long minute to just stare at him, dumbfounded. Then he sighs. 

“ _Fine_. Fine. Treat me to dinner or whatever. After that, leave me alone.” 

"Sure, sure,” Soonyoung starts walking away, still facing Jihoon. “Good game, by the way, Jihoon! Not many people can hit a homerun like that off of me." 

"Stop being so cocky. It's going to bite you in the ass some day!" 

"Maybe," Soonyoung grins. "See you later!” 

"Bye, Soonyoung," Jihoon says, leaving the bathroom and Soonyoung behind. 

"Did the Tiger pitcher find you?" Jun asks when Jihoon sits across from him on the bus.

"Unfortunately." 

"Now that you won the bet, what are you doing to do?" 

"He’s going to buy me dinner. I don't really need anything else from him." 

Jun nods, finding that satisfactory and Jihoon is pulling his headphones out of his bag when he notices Jeonghan staring at him between the seats in front of him. 

Jihoon swallows. "What?" 

“So… You lost a bet to go on a date?” Jihoon’s heart freezes. “When is it?”

Jihoon has to wait a second for his heart restart. 

"Tonight, I guess,” he answers, as casually as possible. “I want to get it out of the way." 

"Sure, you do," Jeonghan's smirk is evil and Jihoon catches Seokmin grinning over his seat. 

Out of pettiness, Jihoon kicks the back of it, making Seokmin fall, and puts on his headphones, blocking out the world with a short nap. 

At the hotel, their coach goes over the game stats – Seokmin's control is still slightly lacking, Jun needs to stop stealing bases unless he gives a sign, and finally compliments Jihoon on his game-calling and of course the homerun that brought them the win. 

"Our next game is tomorrow at two. We’ll have a light warm-up at ten, so no going out late tonight. Get some sleep!”

"Yes, coach!" 

"Jihoon, Jeonghan, Seokmin, Seungkwan we'll have a meeting in an hour, go get cleaned up." 

"Yes, coach!" 

Jeonghan meets Jihoon's eyes with a small wink when the coach leaves. "Text Soonyoung about an early dinner," he tells him. 

Jihoon ignores him and goes off to shower on his own, hating how Jeonghan and Seokmin giggle behind him. 

God, it really is frustrating when there's a battery that’s so obviously closer on the same team. It’s almost like Jihoon is watching from the side, most of the time, despite also being a catcher. He can't help but think what Soonyoung said… _If you were on my team, you’d be my–_

No. He doesn't want to think about it, actually. 

The meeting with their coach is just to go over Seokmin's pitches and see why his inside pitch didn't go as fast as it did in practice. Seokmin is still just a first year, only in his first few months of playing baseball more seriously than he ever did in the countryside, so it makes sense for him to be a little weaker after the first few games. Jihoon doesn't want to say it out loud, but that could prove problematic in more serious competitions down the line, at least this tournament could be good practice. Still, he does suggest they let Seungkwan pitch a little.

Seokmin doesn't look too worried, overall, which is all thanks to Jeonghan, calming him down with small jokes and teasing words here and there. Jihoon stays more quiet, but when Seokmin looks over at him, expecting a word from him as well, he tells him he did a good job and the smile he's rewarded with feels unearned. 

Their meeting ends around six and when Jihoon takes out his phone there's a few texts from Soonyoung. 

_don't forget about me!_

_give me the address of ur hotel i'll pick u up whenever_

"God, he's persistent," Jihoon mutters and Jeonghan looks over his shoulder. 

"Do you want me to talk to him?" 

"No-" 

Jeonghan's already grabbing his phone, though, and pressing call. 

"Hyung!" 

"Hello? Soonyoung-ah? This is Jeonghan, I'm the third year catcher on Jihoon's team. Yes, yes, he's here." 

"Hyung, I'm serious, give me–" Jihoon reaches for him but Jeonghan steps back putting up a hand between them to keep him away. Jihoon's hands bunch into fists. 

"We're staying near Sincheon at a small hotel, I can text you the address. Oh, don't worry about it, he's very excited!" Jeonghan adds, smiling at Jihoon. "Sure, sure. Don't mind him, he's just shy. Of course, he's waiting! Bye bye!" 

Jihoon stands dumbfounded, watching Jeonghan text Soonyoung the address and then nearly whines when he's finally returned the phone. 

"I really hate you." 

"I'm helping you make a new friend." 

"I have enough friends." 

"Your baseball mitt doesn't count!" 

"Shut up!" 

"Hey, I'm still your hyung, you know. Have some respect," he's teasing though so Jihoon doesn't feel bad for glaring at him, before leaving without another word to the elevators. 

Seokmin chases him there, surprisingly, and Jihoon still almost closes the doors in his face, which says enough about how annoyed he is.

"What?" Jihoon asks.

"Sorry about Jeonghan." 

"Why should you apologize for him…?" Jihoon rubs his eyes, tired from the whole day. Can't a man get some rest…? What did he even hit that homerun for? He deserves a break. 

"He doesn't mean–" 

"Seokmin, listen. I know Jeonghan well enough. I know he's just teasing, okay? Sometimes though, teasing like this is unnecessary. I know you like him and all, but you're a good guy. So you shouldn’t do that to anyone, even if he tries to make you." 

"I hang out with him and Joshua enough to know about their little games... But it's fun for me, you know? Deep down they're good guys." 

"Deep down…” Jihoon laughs. “I didn't say they were _bad_." 

"I think you're just nervous about this Soonyoung guy." 

The elevator arrives at their floor and Jihoon hums. "Why would I be?"

"You don't really like loud guys, do you?" 

"That's not true." 

"Well, fine, I _know_ that. But I think... I think maybe loud guys like us scare you just a little at the start? But we mean well! You know that from me!" 

Jihoon swallows. "Yeah, yeah, Seokmin-ah. Don't worry. I just don’t know Soonyoung very well, so I'm not sure why he’s trying this hard." 

"Maybe he just wants to be your friend?" 

Jihoon purses his lips. "He's very persistent." 

"Isn't it flattering?" Seokmin grins, stopping at his room and Jihoon scowls as he enters his own room a few doors down, without replying. 

Jun's already inside, eyes nearly closed as he watches some Chinese drama on his phone. When Jihoon enters, he reaches for his earphones but Jihoon raises his hand. 

"All good, I'm leaving soon." 

"Oh?" Jun sits up. "Dinner with Soonyoung?" 

"Unfortunately." 

Jun smiles. "But you're still going." 

"Because Jeonghan-hyung answered for me! I wasn't going to..." He sighs and looks down at his phone where there's a text from Soonyoung saying he'll be there in thirty minutes. Well, it's twenty now.

"It’s just dinner. I'm sure you'll have plenty to catch up on." 

"Hmm."

Jihoon puts on jeans and a clean shirt, applies deodorant and even a spray of Jun's cologne when Jun offers. He's not trying to show off here, there's no reason to, but he still makes sure his hair is neat over his forehead. He considers brushing his teeth but decides that would be too much. 

All of that doesn’t even take ten minutes and then he's sitting on his bed, awkwardly, staring down at his phone, Jun’s drama loud in the background.

"Oh, you are sooooo nervous," Jun teases, the show still playing.

"No!" Jihoon's cheeks feel warm though and he groans, fingers pressing his forehead. "Everyone is making such a big deal out of this, I don't even get what this guy wants from me..." 

"Probably for you to catch his balls," Jun pauses. "Maybe in more ways than one."

Jihoon's eyes widen as he stares at him.

"Jeez, I'm kidding! He’s probably interested in you as a catcher, plus you're the same age, maybe he just wants a friend? Or to catch up for real? Most things aren't that deep." 

Jihoon's heart hammers and he swallows the nervousness away. "I don't like it," he says quietly.

"Then ask him about it tonight." 

Jihoon makes a face, but finally gets up. “I’ll see you later.” 

“Don’t stress too hard, even if it’s your first date!” 

“Shut up!” Jihoon screams, slamming the door. 

Out in the hallway, he sighs again. Damn it. There’s really no reason to be this nervous, and yet… 

He takes the stairs down to the lobby to clear his head. Outside, he checks the phone to see that he’s about ten minutes early which only makes him feel even more nervous that he even _cares_ to be that early, so he calls his mom to pass time, catching her up with how the game went and when he hangs up he sees that Soonyoung is a few minutes late. 

_Okay_ , Jihoon thinks, _awkward_. 

Was he ditched? This whole meeting plan felt out of place as it is, and maybe that’s all for a reason. Maybe Soonyoung just wanted to tease Jihoon a little for shooting a homerun off of him, by standing him up. But then wouldn’t he make Jihoon _go_ somewhere and then leave him? That would definitely be meaner, but maybe Soonyoung really is too stupid to pull a prank like that. 

“Aw no, is he late?” Jihoon hears Joshua behind him and turns sharply to see him, Jeonghan and Seokmin coming out of the hotel.

“What are you–“

“We weren’t about to let you go _alone_ ,” Joshua grins, eyes meeting Jeonghan’s just for a second and Jihoon feels a cold shiver run down his spine. 

“Surely not with the _enemy_ ,” Jeonghan adds.

"Please," Jihoon tries calmly, _"leave._ " 

"Now, now, that's no way to talk to your hyungs!" Jeonghan tuts and Jihoon licks his lips nervously, looking over quickly at Seokmin almost pleadingly. 

"This is embarrassing enough, please don't–" 

"Oh, there he is!" Jeonghan points and Jihoon turns to find Soonyoung checking both sides of the street before jogging across. 

"I'm late," he smiles awkwardly, running up to Jihoon. "Sorry, did you–" He seems to notice the others behind him and pauses. "Oh." 

"I'm Hong Jisoo, but you can call me Joshua," Josh introduces himself first and Soonyoung blinks before clasping his hand politely. 

"I'm Jeonghan, and this is our ace, Seokmin." 

"Um, yes, I'm aware," Soonyoung is being polite, meeting Jihoon's embarrassed gaze with a soft smile. "I'm Soonyoung." 

"We're also aware." 

Soonyoung nods, balancing on his feet. "So... Is everyone coming?" 

"Why not? Were we intruding on something?" Jeonghan feigns innocence and Joshua giggles. Jihoon’s teeth clench. He is really going to kill them some day, and _soon_. 

"Um, no... No, it's fine! We were just going to grab dinner. Are you guys hungry?” 

"Starving!" Joshua smiles with all of his teeth and Jihoon lets out a quiet sigh. Soonyoung notices it, meeting Jihoon's eyes. 

"Is that okay?" He asks and Jihoon can't believe Soonyoung is the only one here asking _Jihoon_ what he wants. Maybe he's not such a horrible guy after all, especially compared to the other three right now. 

"Yeah... Yeah, whatever. Let's just go." 

"If I'd known, I would have brought Wonwoo," Soonyoung tells Jihoon as he leads them down a few blocks to an all you can eat barbeque place he says is adequately priced for the area. 

"If I'd known, I would have told you to bring him," Jihoon assures him and Soonyoung smiles again, too friendly. Jihoon doesn't quite know what to do with all these kind smiles. 

Behind them, the other three are chattering happily as they look through Seokmin's phone pictures, teasing him about some childhood girl friend he has back home. Between Jihoon and Soonyoung, it's quiet again. 

"Why did you even want this?" Jihoon mutters. 

"Is it so bad?" Soonyoung sounds nervous. "I don't want to be too imposing... Just catching up with a friend." 

Jihoon swallows, hands deep in his pockets, and the space between their shoulders feels strangely intimate. Jihoon wonders if it's all the talk about dates that has his thoughts spiraling into a severely unfamiliar area. 

"What do you want to know, then?" 

Soonyoung only has time to ask a few questions about his middle school life in Busan before they reach the BBQ place and are seated at a corner table. The price really is appropriate for an all you can eat place, it even comes with a drink included. Seokmin is probably the most excited out of all of them. 

"I knew skipping dinner was worth it!" 

"We have a game tomorrow so don't overeat," Jeonghan tells him, following Seokmin to the buffet. Joshua stays behind for a moment, ordering four cokes and then glancing at Soonyoung. 

"I'm good with a coke, too," Soonyoung smiles, jittery. Jeonghan made the other three sit on one side, so Jihoon is stuck next to Soonyoung, all too aware of his leg bouncing under the table. 

When the waitress leaves after explaining how the menu works, Joshua tries looking for the other two. "I'll go find them, do you guys want anything specific? I'm assuming we'll all share." 

"I eat anything, thanks," Soonyoung is still smiling but Jihoon is too annoyed from this whole ordeal to be polite with his hyungs. 

"Yeah, same." 

Joshua grins, getting up. "Alright, extra rice it is!" He winks at Jihoon. "We'll be back soon, start warming up the grill." 

Soonyoung lowers the ceiling fan and turns on the heat 

"You can–" He starts but Jihoon is already opening the side drawer to take out some cutlery, passing over chopsticks and the tongs. 

"Are you grilling then?" Jihoon asks, meeting Soonyoung's eyes who seems just a little rosy for whatever reason. Jihoon really wishes they were sitting on opposite sides, this is... This is too much. Everything feels too warm. 

"I'm good at it," Soonyoung sounds earnest. 

"Good luck convincing Seokmin of that. He's our grill master." 

"Well, maybe he hasn't met a grill master like me before!" 

"We'll see about that~" Jihoon teases, cracking his coke can open when the waitress comes with their order. 

Soonyoung hovers his hand over the grill to check if the heat is working alright, and mutters something about catchers being too demanding and Jihoon smiles slightly. 

"Catchers demanding... Who's the one who _bet_ their loss to take me out to dinner?" 

Soonyoung retracts his hand and glances at Jihoon, cheeks just a little red. 

"I didn't think we'd actually lose!" 

"Right, because you would have preferred for me to catch your balls?" 

"Well... Yeah!" 

"Catching balls already? Aren't you two going too fast?" Jeonghan chides, sliding back into their booth with two plates of lettuce and some vegetables. 

Jihoon has to tighten his jaw to keep from answering that, glad that the table gets quickly distracted with Seokmin's mound of meat that they have to finish or they pay a penalty, and then Seokmin and Soonyoung arguing over who is better at grilling. 

"It's about how you start moving the meat on the grill!" 

"You don't just move it!" Soonyoung argues. "It's the timing, the _timing!_ " 

"Sure, but you can’t leave it laying there untouched, are you a barbarian?" 

"I'm older than you, you know!" 

"Sorry, hyung. But you don't just slap the meat on there, it's an art. Move it around! Press the center, cut it as the sides begin to curl!" 

"That's... That's too much work!" 

Jihoon laughs pretty freely at them and finds it even funnier when Soonyoung leans back on his seat, arms crossed, cheeks puffed in annoyance. 

"Whatever, take care of it then," he says finally and Seokmin hovers over the grill, raising his sleeves, smile big and bright as he grills the meat for all of them. 

"Pitchers really are all the same," Jeonghan points out, looking over at Jihoon who nods with a small laugh. 

"What's that supposed to mean?!" Both pitchers yell at the same time and Jeonghan's hand falls, palm up, as if to show, _this is what I'm talking about_ , and Jihoon laughs even harder, accepting a piece of meat Soonyoung puts on his plate. He's too busy arranging his lettuce wrap that only when he's stuffing it in his mouth does he notice Jeonghan's teasing smile, appetite suddenly disappearing. 

"What?" He asks quietly while the pitchers argue. 

"Nothing, nothing! I'm surprised you two don't know each other well." 

"We used to play in the same little league back in middle school," Soonyoung points out, grabbing a few pieces of meat for himself when Seokmin says they're ready. "So we would see each other a lot." 

That's a bit of an exaggeration, but not exactly far from the truth. 

"What was our Jihoonie like in middle school?" Jeonghan asks, chin in his hand, smile only slightly devious. 

"Oh... He was very shy and quiet. Actually, it was kind of hard to talk to him the first few times, but I was really impressed by him! He was the only person who could read my pitching, he's the only one I've never struck out..." His voice grows quiet, realizing that it's still true. "Even today," he laughs awkwardly.

"Jihoon-hyung is a genius!" Seokmin agrees. "Jeonghan-hyung loves to be daring with his calls, but Jihoon thinks five steps ahead at all times!" 

"No need to shove it in my face that you get to play with the two of the best catchers of our generation," Soonyoung mutters. 

"Is your Vernon not good enough?" Jihoon laughs. "That's not very nice." 

"Vernon is great! But he’s still just a first year so of course there will be calls that–" Soonyoung shuts himself up, and smiles awkwardly. "I don't know if I should be talking about this, actually." 

"You're out of the tournament already," Joshua chides. "Share, share!" 

"Being a great catcher takes experience!" Soonyoung distracts himself with more food. "Let's not talk about our teams..." 

His ears are red again and Jihoon looks away before he finds it too endearing. 

"What else can you tell us about Jihoon-hyung, then?” Seokmin asks. “He's a very secretive person, you know!" 

Soonyoung shrugs, grabbing a too big bite of kimchi that turns his face instantly red.

"Jihoon's a hard person to reach for me as well," he mutters, looking down at his plate. "I've been trying for years and... Well, it took me losing today's game to finally get him to sit by my side!” 

He’s so earnest, Jihoon thinks. 

"Jihoonie loves playing hard to get," Jeonghan tsks and Jihoon's heart feels stuck in his throat. 

"Yeah, it's not like things are easier just because we're on the same team!" Seokmin is finally eating now, swallowing down a bite before he goes on. "If I didn't have Jeonghan-hyung, I'd never have someone to catch for me! I swear, he's stricter than our coach!" 

"You just need to rest!" Jihoon argues. 

"I need to pitch too! I'm a _pitcher_!" 

Soonyoung laughs and Jihoon distracts himself by taking the last few sips of his coke. 

"That actually makes me feel better," Soonyoung admits.

"Of course it does," Seokmin rolls his eyes and grins. " _Enemy_." 

"You know, your sunshine persona I read about in the magazines is kind of overrated, now that I meet you." 

"No, Seokmin-ah here really is the nicest," Jeonghan runs his hands through Seokmin's hair briefly and then pokes his cheek. "He's just a little feisty." Seokmin jerks away and Jihoon shifts awkwardly in his seat. It's not like he didn't know their battery is closer than whatever he and Seokmin are, but sometimes... 

"So now that you guys lost, what's the plan?" Joshua asks, and Jihoon is getting kind of tired of watching his teammates taunt Soonyoung, but he doesn't seem to mind, answering politely. 

"Back to practice, I guess. This tournament isn't really the big goal, you know? There's the next one in May and the one in Busan in the summer. That's what we want to win this year. Our school hasn't gotten the trophy for that one in almost a decade." 

"Hmmm," Joshua nods. "We got runner-up."

"Yeah, Busan schools keep winning that one, but we thought we'd challenge that this year. There’s nothing close to Koshien here, but we gotta aim for something," he shrugs and they all get the incentive behind making goals like this when there's no big stadium for high schoolers in Korea like there is in Japan. 

The absurd amounts of food they brought from the buffet is enough to fill them up and they stay for a bit longer, digesting, just so see if they’ll want anything else. It’s a little past nine when they finally decide it's time to go. 

Outside it's chilly and Jihoon stuffs his hands inside his pockets, looking at his teammates for a hint on how to disperse in a way that won't be too awkward. 

"Are we close to the river?" Joshua asks. 

"Um, it's about a twenty-minute walk up that street," he points ahead and Joshua nods, looking at Jeonghan and Seokmin.

"Shall we?" 

"You'll take Jihoonie back to the hotel, right?" Jeonghan asks and Soonyoung doesn't have time to reply before the other three are hurrying up the street and around the corner. 

It takes Jihoon a minute to realize that he's been left alone with an equally confused Soonyoung. 

Oh my god. 

He is going to kill them. 

"Did you want to see the river? We could–" 

"I grew up in Seoul," Jihoon snaps and watches guiltily as Soonyoung's lips slam shut. Jihoon lets out a small breath, shifting his scarf so it covers his mouth. "Sorry, they're annoying," he adds, somehow feeling like Soonyoung should know it's not him he's mad at. 

"They're fine, it's no problem.”

"I'm cold," Jihoon says.

"I'll walk you back–" 

"Is there a café nearby? I kind of feel like something sweet." 

Soonyoung is thrown off by the offer but quickly collects himself. "Sure, yeah! Um... Should we look for something interesting? Or there's just a Coffee Bean down the street?"

"Both sound good." 

Soonyoung seems nervous so he just takes them to the Coffee Bean and they decide for a carrot cake and a layered green tea cake to share, along with two hot chocolates. Soonyoung insists on paying and Jihoon isn't in the mood to argue so he says he'll go find them a seat instead. 

The cafe is considerably full for nine pm. They must be next to a university campus because there are a lot of older students studying in groups. There's only a small table in the corner available.

Jihoon sits on one of the armchairs, taking off his scarf but keeping his jacket on, waiting for the hot chocolate. To be honest, he doesn't even like sweet things, but he almost felt like he owed Soonyoung this. For whatever reason. He watches Soonyoung text on his phone while he waits for their order and takes out his own phone, already seeing the text he expected from Jeonghan. 

_Thank me later!_

He almost types out something rude, but in the end doesn't bother answering, putting his phone away and rubbing his palms together for heat as he watches Soonyoung come over with their hot drinks and food. 

"Sorry, this was the only table available," Jihoon says and Soonyoung shakes his head, sitting down in the other chair. 

"There really are too many people here, though," he says a little quietly, moving his chair closer to the table and they both need to lean forward to get to their drinks more comfortably. Jihoon gives Soonyoung a small smile when he reaches for his mug and then sits up with it, taking a small sip. "I think it's midterms at the University nearby or something," Soonyoung tries for a conversation and Jihoon nods, putting his hot chocolate down to have some cake. It’s still too hot to drink.

They're about halfway done with their desert, Soonyoung talking his nervousness through empty stories, when he finally catches Jihoon watching him, somewhat unimpressed. 

"What?" He asks, stopping mid-sentence. 

"You finally got me on my own," Jihoon says and Soonyoung swallows visibly. "So. What do you want?" 

Soonyoung blinks. "Nothing." 

"Now, that's not true." 

"It's really nothing!" He's earnest, fingers twitching around his small fork. "I mean, of course I want you to catch for me! I think I'll always want you to catch for me, and don't laugh at me if I keep asking!" Jihoon laughs as Soonyoung gets more frustrated, which seems to relax him. "But, you know, I feel like it took you so long to actually talk to me, that it's nice to have you here. Finally," he adds. 

"You are a little persistent," Jihoon agrees. 

"I thought you were avoiding me, I didn't understand why!" 

_I wasn't avoiding, per say..._ Jihoon thinks. "I just didn't get what you wanted from me," he says honestly. 

"You were the best catcher in our age group, if not amongst everyone I've played with in middle school. Of course I wanted to play with you! But you moved... And ignored my texts!"

"Daegu really did offer me a good scholarship," Jihoon shrugs, absentmindedly getting another bite of the carrot cake despite not being hungry anymore. 

"Did you not..." Soonyoung stops himself, face twisting. 

"What?" 

The breath Soonyoung takes before he speaks, shakes slightly. "You never considered it would be cool to play in a battery again? I thought... I thought we fit quite well, back then." 

Jihoon nods. "It wouldn't be the worst thing that ever happened. But I'm not playing baseball for a single person to catch for..." 

The pause after is long but eventually the corners of Soonyoung's mouth curl upwards as he meets Jihoon's eyes. 

"Right. Though I didn’t mean it like that, you know? I just thought it would be fun.” 

The walk back to Jihoon's hotel is quiet. Jihoon can’t stop thinking about what they had said earlier, words bouncing awkwardly in his head. 

"So, when I'm in Busan this summer, will you show me around?" Soonyoung asks as they approach the entrance. 

Jihoon laughs, feeling a little lighter knowing he's almost home. "Sure, whatever. I have your number, now."

“Right. Because you weren’t ignoring my texts before.” 

Jihoon smiles sheepishly. "Thanks for today, it wasn't so bad." 

"I'm sure it helps that you won earlier." 

"Of course. And that you didn't make me sit in some park and catch your pitches." 

"Only because you didn't bring your glove." 

Jihoon laughs again and waves bye as Soonyoung waits for him to enter the building before leaving. 

When he's back in his room, Jun is asleep despite it being just after ten. Jihoon quietly gets ready for bed and doesn't let his mind wander too much, ignoring any thoughts of his dinner and the cafe after and the way Soonyoung smiled every time their eyes met. 

In his dream, Soonyoung haunts him, fiery eyes, big grin, blue uniform with bright yellow stripes and fastballs that land comfortably in his mitt. 

"Partners?" Soonyoung asks, all the way from the mound, but Jihoon hears him perfectly, voice velvet and smooth. Near. 

"Always," Jihoon replies and asks for an inside pitch, which Soonyoung throws with beautiful precision. 

"I'll be waiting," Soonyoung says, hand out, asking for the ball back, but when Jihoon throws it over, it lands on an empty mound. 

⚾

The Busan tournament is held in the last week of August, in the burning, humid summer heat. Jeonghan hates it enough that, despite it being his second last tournament, he convinces their coach to let Jihoon start most of the games. It's clear that he won't be continuing to the professional leagues, anyway, so Jihoon takes the opportunity to start making a name for himself for the scouts watching. 

Seokmin is in top shape, too, he has learned two more pitches and has perfected his slider into a pitch to be reckoned with. They had gotten to semifinals in the first Seoul tournament, and the second one in May. The team's confidence for this one is even higher, especially when Seokmin is at the top of his game and Jihoon has settled comfortably into his clean-up position, hitting easy homeruns even off pitches quicker than 135km/h. 

It's exciting to finally have a real tournament again. They play many practice games with teams in the south, but at a tournament... 

_when am i getting a busan tour?_ Soonyoung had texted a few days earlier, and Jihoon glances around the opening ceremony when he remembers the text, finally finding the bright orange caps of the Hana High School standing a few rows to the right. 

Jihoon had told him to focus on winning first and Soonyoung agreed, wishing him luck. That was it... That's all they've spoken about in months, other than the occasional meme Soonyoung will send that Jihoon only replies to with a quick _lol_. 

By the time the opening ceremony rolls to a close, Jihoon is sweaty under his cap, Seokmin whining in front of him. Jeonghan as their captain leads them off the field in a dramatic march that Jun keeps giggling about behind Jihoon, so that even Jihoon can’t help but smile. Inside the stadium some air conditioning is on, and they crowd around their coach who takes them to their dugout. With Jeonghan's luck, they're playing first, but against the weakest team in the bunch. 

"You win some, you lose some," Jeonghan snickers when they see the game schedule. 

True to his word, despite having basically no rest from the heat, the game is called after five innings, Jihoon smashing a home-run to the fence with full bases, ending the game with a score of 11 to 0. 

They plan to go back to their hotel right after, but decide a few should stay to check out the next games. 

"I'll stay," Joshua offers and so does Seungkwan. "The Tigers are playing," Joshua adds and Jihoon tries not to roll his eyes too obviously. 

"I was going to stay anyway." 

"Of course," Joshua grins. 

"Seokmin, it would be good if you could–" Jihoon stops talking though when he notices Seokmin's eyes are barely staying open. "Never mind, go rest," he says patting him on the shoulder and follows Joshua, Seungkwan and their manager to their seats and nibbles on the sandwich they were given earlier. 

The first game is a small Jeju team against a team from Incheon. Seungkwan cheers for Jeju louder than he's ever cheered from their own dugout. 

"They're my home team!" He defends when Joshua jokes about questionable loyalties. 

"Why didn't you play for them then?" 

"Because Daegu gave me a scholarship!" 

Both Jihoon and Joshua understand the sentiment and let Seungkwan cheer as loud as he wants. 

In the end, Jeju loses by two runs and Seungkwan sulks, arms crossed and cheeks puffed. 

"It's because the best players get snatched by big sports academies," he says with a shake of his head and Jihoon sips his water as he watches the dugout get filled with new players, decked in orange. 

"They're playing a Busan team, right?" Seungkwan asks. 

"Yeah, it's unlucky," Jihoon says. "It’s the team we lost to last year." 

"The Tigers are good,” Seungkwan shakes his head. “But their luck has been failing." 

"Are you saying they lost to us because of _luck_?" Jihoon asks and Seungkwan flushes lightly. 

"No! But playing against the best teams in the country first is pretty unlucky if you ask me." 

"Well, since we're so lucky with Jeonghan on our side," Jihoon jokes and Joshua nudges him, with an understanding laugh.

When Soonyoung steps out on the mound, the crowd's cheers get louder. Jihoon wouldn't be surprised if most people are here to watch the Prince of the Capital and not the game. 

Soonyoung on the mound easily attracts the eye with his long legs and confidence. He waves at the people cheering and makes claws with his hands and spreads his arms as the screaming gets louder, bowing elegantly at the waist, to finish off the greeting. 

"What a star," Joshua drawls.

"He's fun to watch," Seungkwan grins and Jihoon wonders if he’s a fanboy. 

Looking over at the line up, he recognizes the names and looks for them on the field. Wonwoo on third base, the same as middle school. Seungcheol is on first as always, but Jihoon pauses when he reads Mingyu's name and then spots him standing on left field, allowing their ace to start off the game.

The game starts sharply. Soonyoung strikes out the first three batters in quick succession and the stadium watches in a strange standstill. There’s really no other pitcher at Soonyoung’s caliber, especially not from the first inning. Jihoon only breathes when the stadium erupts into loud cheers, Soonyoung waving at the stands as the sides switch. 

The game continues in the same rapid tempo. The pitcher for the other team is a southpaw with crazily angled crossfires that the Tigers' batters also have trouble hitting. Still, in the fourth inning, Wonwoo manages to get on first base with a weak hit that Seungcheol finishes off with an RBI, leaving him safe on second base. He lifts his fist in the air as Soonyoung approaches the batting box, and with two strikes and two fouls, Soonyoung manages to get a hit into the far left. Seungcheol scores but Soonyoung gets out, trying to make it to third base. 

They still win the game with four points after Seungcheol hits a double RBI in the seventh inning. Soonyoung didn't even let the best team of last year’s Busan tournament get to second base, only allowing a total of three hits. 

"That was insane," Joshua marvels as they get up when the teams bow on the field and he checks his phone. “There’s a manager waiting for us outside.”

"Could we go to the bathroom quickly?" Seungkwan asks and the other two have to go as well so they make a quick detour. They're still in their game clothes, so they sneak downstairs to use the bathrooms by the changing rooms to avoid crowds, and Jihoon is all too aware of the possibility of bumping into people he doesn't quite want to talk to. _No_ , he thinks, _don’t think about it, if you think about it, it will happen!_

He's the first to finish, so he waits outside the bathroom and almost, as if on cue, he hears familiar voices down the hall. 

“Fuck me,” he mutters miserably, and braces himself.

Seungcheol is the first to come around the corner. He's with Wonwoo and Soonyoung who stop as soon as they see Jihoon. 

"Look at this~ Did the little Daegu boy get lost?" Seungcheol teases, but he's excited as he hurries over to Jihoon. "We haven’t spoken in years!" 

Jihoon's smile is polite, and he glances at the other two before greeting them all. 

"How's Daegu treating you?" 

"Perfectly fine." 

"Polite as always!" Seungcheol laughs, ruffling Jihoon's hair and Jihoon feels twelve again, standing in front of Seungcheol with all his big brother energy.

"What are you doing here?" Soonyoung asks and Jihoon nearly laughs at how casual all of this is.

"We had to use the bathroom."

Soonyoung steps closer. "Did you watch the game?" 

"Yeah."

"What did you think?!" 

"You guys played well, clearly," Jihoon laughs nervously. "Those were some nice hits," he tells Seungcheol. “Those pitches looked hard.”

"Ey!” Soonyoung frowns, taking another step. “You're doing that on purpose aren't you! What did you think of _my_ pitches?!" 

Jihoon takes half a step back, but there's just the wall behind him and he looks a little helplessly at Wonwoo. 

"How’s the first year catcher doing?" 

"He’s trying his best. Vernon is crazy patient," Wonwoo smiles and Soonyoung sputters. 

"I'm right here!" 

"Do I still need to apologize for his behavior?" Seungcheol asks and Jihoon laughs, shaking his head. 

"It's fine. I expected this," then he looks over at Soonyoung. "Your pitches were great," he tells him, a little teasingly. "But you shook your head at your catcher in the fifth inning. Think about that next time you ask me to catch for you."

Soonyoung's whole face is instantly red. "That–!! That's because he's new! And young! I wouldn't shake off–" 

Jihoon raises his hand. "I'm kidding, I'm kidding. Your pitches look great, at least from the third floor," he adds with a small laugh. 

"You could see them up close if–" 

"If what, Soonyoung," Wonwoo speaks this time. "We might be playing against them down the road," he reminds him, sounding just a little disappointed, and Soonyoung turns sheepish. 

"I wouldn't show him _everything_." 

"So you have that much variety~?" Jihoon’s brow rises and Soonyoung's eyes turn sharp from the stress of giving away potential information. Joshua and Seungkwan step out of the bathroom just then, surprised at the number of people there. 

"Kwon Soonyoung!" Seungkwan says too loudly, then bows at the waist. "I'm a huge fan. You're a super inspiring pitcher! I wish to be just like you when I grow up."

"You're just a year younger," Jihoon pats him on the back so he straightens out.

"Doesn't mean I don't respect him fully!" 

"Are all pitchers loud by nature?" Wonwoo mutters and Jihoon meets his eyes with a small laugh. 

"Alright kids, it was nice seeing you, but we gotta go before we get in trouble," Joshua hurries them. "Did they give out valuable info?" He asks Jihoon, loudly, and Seungcheol sputters behind them.

"This is why you should keep your mouth shut!" He yells at Soonyoung. 

"But I didn't say anything!!!" He's dragged to the bathroom by his brother and Wonwoo stays behind to wave bye before following them in. 

"Are they all from your middle school team?" Seungkwan asks, still shell-shocked. 

"Just Wonwoo and Mingyu. The other two... We played in the same league, that's it." 

"He's being humble," Joshua smirks. "Soonyoung is in love with him." 

"He's _not_." 

"He keeps begging for Jihoon to catch his _balls_." 

"Don’t say it like that! He's talking about his pitches!" 

"It's all a metaphor, Jihoon-ah. When you grow up, you'll understand." 

Jihoon groans while Seungkwan blinks, confused. 

"Ignore him," Jihoon begs and hurries ahead to where their manager is waiting, not in the mood to catch the taunts Joshua keeps throwing.

⚾

The Daegu Academy loses in the semifinal to an up-and-coming Busan team. It's a little embarrassing, too, considering their ace is Daniel Kang who has learned three tricky new pitches since he said he’ll never play baseball after middle school. The sidearm is particularly impossible to hit, which their team realizes quite early on, allowing Daegu only two runs and winning with the three hits they got off Seungkwan early in the game. 

It's not particularly upsetting, especially considering playing in the summer heat is torture enough, but it was Seungkwan’s first starter game and he cries the whole way to their hotel, nearly broken by the pressure. It takes the whole team spending the rest of the day at the beach and a long conversation with Jeonghan to bring some color back to his eyes. 

When they return from their private conversation, Jeonghan smiles knowingly at Jihoon who feels just a little nervous. Jeonghan only has one more tournament left with them in October. After that, it's on Jihoon to take care of the pitchers. Damn it. He knows Jeonghan will want to talk about that, and soon, but he's distracted when his phone vibrates with a few texts. 

_that was a close one!_

_tell seungkwan he pitched rlly well, that busan team is surprising everyone this tournament after being on the downlow for so long plus it’s his first time pitching and he did really well in the rest of his innings!_

_you want his number to tell him yourself?_

_hehe no i wanted to talk to you actually. now that u lost when r u gonna take me on that tour?_

_i never actually agreed to anything, u know_

_jihoooonie come on!!_

_not tonight, thats for sure_

_no worries, ill let u cry tonight. but tomorrow?_

_u have a game on thursday!_

_you guys r gonna leave soon, no?_

_tomorrow morning_

_JIHOON YOU PROMISED_

_i didn't promise anything_

As soon as he sends it, Soonyoung is calling and Jihoon can't help but laugh before he gets up, walking a little down the beach so nobody overhears, and answers. 

"Yes?" 

"Jihoon!" 

"Quiet, quiet. What is it?" 

"Are you free now?" 

"No, we're at a team dinner."

"And after?" 

"Bedtime!" 

Soonyoung's pause is long. "Are you avoiding me again?" 

"Again?" 

"Like you did back in middle school." 

"We weren't ever really friends, Soonyoung, it was less avoiding you and more of me not knowing who you were." He hears Soonyoung scoff on the line, and rolls his eyes. "My parents live in Busan, remember? I'm staying here until Sunday." 

"Why didn't you say so from the start?!" 

"I was hoping you'd leave me alone~" 

"If you really want me to, just say so!" 

"Hmmm..." Jihoon pretends to think it over for a few long seconds. "Fine. I guess I can give you a small tour. Only if you win on Thursday." 

"Done!" 

"You're that confident?" 

"Yes! And we're winning the final on Saturday, too!" 

"Alright, tiger, good luck." 

"Thursday, then?" 

"Talk to me when you win." 

"Deal!" 

Jihoon laughs. "Bye!"

When he hangs up, his heart feels like it's climbing up his throat instead of sitting comfortably behind his ribcage. He can't stop smiling. Ugh. He's never been a person who gets overexcited about people like this, especially not someone as confusing as Soonyoung. How frustrating... 

⚾

  
  


His team leaves Thursday morning, while Jihoon is allowed to stay the weekend at his parent's. It's nice to be home again, without two other guys sleeping in his room. Even over summer break he stays at school, so he had missed his parents. They take some time off work and go with him to see the semifinals and actually ask questions about baseball. Jihoon finds that he's quite excited to answer. 

"We went to your first game this tournament," they tell him in the fourth inning, when the Tigers switch back to fielding. "But we didn't understand much." 

Jihoon licks his lips. They were way too dry from the summer heat. He smiles, meeting his mom's eyes before answering his dad. 

"Thanks. What did you think?" 

"It was a little long and boring," his dad says, too bluntly and Jihoon laughs. "But when you hit that ball, I felt real proud." 

"I do more than just hit a ball, dad," Jihoon teases, but he's grinning. "Catchers call the most important shots, that's why it's the most important position!" 

"Isn't it the pitcher?" His mom asks.

"Pitchers get all the attention, sure, and without a good pitcher the game won't go far. But the catcher... The catcher is the brain. That's why I like it... I get to command the flow of the game. Like, look at that pitcher there," he nods towards the field where Soonyoung is just throwing the rosin bag back onto the mound, dusting his fingers perfectly for the next pitch. "Of course, the pitcher is great, but he's not throwing whatever he wants, you know? The catcher there is going to show him a sign and the pitcher will have to meet the demand. It all depends on the batter, too. Let’s say... The batter here is a clean-up batter, those are the toughest to beat because their role is to hit, and to hit far. Their fifth batter has hit three homeruns this tournament alone! So if you do enough research, the catcher will know what the batter’s weakest shot is, or they'll know what mind-games to play, how many insides, outsides, how many fastballs, maybe a breaking ball... It's kind of complicated," he takes a sip of his coke and watches Soonyoung throw a fastball straight down the middle that breaks at the plate, causing the batter to miss. When he looks at the scoreboard, the pitch speed reads 148km/h. 

After two more pitches, the batter strikes out. Jihoon scoffs. 

"It helps that the pitcher is great, of course. Especially when a pitcher has tons of different pitches... That's the most fun," he grins, thinking of middle school Soonyoung's repertoire. By now he probably has ten different grips... Seokmin is great, but Jihoon can't lie, catching ten different balls sounds extremely exciting. 

"You really love baseball, huh?" Jihoon's mom, brushing her fingers through his hair and Jihoon flushes. 

"Well, I did go to boarding school for it." 

"I never realized it's that complicated. I was scared you weren't using your brain at all," his dad adds and Jihoon scowls which makes his parents laugh. "I'll have to pay more attention to your games." 

"You have plenty of time to learn," Jihoon sips on his coke, shaking the can to check how much is left. "I'm planning to go pro, after all." He watches Soonyoung strike the next batter in three quick pitches and licks his lips, again, thinking how he wouldn't mind going pro with a pitcher like that. 

The Tigers win with Seungcheol hitting his first homerun of the tournament and Jihoon watches their whole team crowd around their dugout, lifting their cleanup up in the air. 

"Jealous?" His mom asks and Jihoon shrugs. He remembers Soonyoung saying how badly their team wants to win this tournament and finds that he hopes they do.

"You want to go congratulate them while we get the car?" His mom asks then, distracting him from his thoughts. 

"Huh?" 

"That Jeon Wonwoo boy, he’s your friend from middle school, right?" 

Jihoon blinks. "Um. Yeah. I'm surprised you remember." 

"I did have to know the people who were bringing you home from practice every day." Jihoon nods. In all honesty, he didn't actually expect his mom to know. 

"We'll go get the car and then we're having lunch," his dad announces. "Invite your friends if you'd like." 

"I'm sure they want to celebrate with their team." 

"Yes," his dad frowns, as if he hadn't considered that and Jihoon laughs. His parents really have no idea how all this sport camaraderie works.

They leave to get the car and Jihoon makes his way a little awkwardly down to where the teams leave the stadium to their buses. He feels out of place, standing with the crowd to cheer on the winners and, as the minutes stretch, he really feels like he should go. 

He's about to turn to leave when the doors of the stadium open and the crowd cheers loudly around them. Jihoon is surprised at the amount of fangirls Soonyoung and Seungcheol have, they are seriously too popular for their own good. Even their first year catcher has a few fans already. Jihoon thought Jeonghan and Joshua were popular, but this is something else. He watches as Soonyoung's grin stretches wider as he does his signature claws, which gets the crowd screaming even louder. 

Jihoon laughs to himself. He really shouldn't have stayed, the second-hand embarrassment is not worth it, plus it's too crowded for him to approach and congratulate the team on the game. 

"Jihoon?" It's Wonwoo who notices him, right as Jihoon starts walking the other way and he freezes, upset that his cap isn't low enough over his face to keep him unrecognizable. He turns to look at him with an awkward smile and Soonyoung by Wonwoo’s side stops too, grinning when he sees him. 

"Jihoonie!" 

"Jihoonie?" Wonwoo's brow rises and Jihoon knows his face is red, but he still takes a step closer to greet them. 

"Hey... I watched the game. You guys did really well." 

"Lee Jihoon!" It's Seungcheol's turn now. "Didn't your team go back home?" 

"My parents live here, so I'm staying for a few days," he explains sheepishly, a little self-conscious under their gazes, especially Soonyoung's that burns bright with excitement. 

"I won," he tells him and Jihoon nods. 

"I'm aware." 

"You remember your promise, right?!" He demands, beaming shamelessly, and Jihoon lets out a shaky breath. 

"Yeah, yeah."

"He's still pestering you to catch after all these years?" Seungcheol rubs a fist against Soonyoung's shoulder and his brother frowns. 

"He's giving me a tour!" Soonyoung defends. "We're friends now!" 

"I see," Seungcheol nods slowly. "This guy will say anything," Seungcheol tells Jihoon. "If he's bothering you, just let me know." 

Jihoon laughs. "No... No it's fine. You guys can join, if you want, it's been a while." 

Soonyoung's smile fades momentarily but he covers it well, especially when someone calls his name and he gets distracted by a group of girls complimenting him, leaving Jihoon alone with Wonwoo and Seungcheol.

"We'll probably have a team meeting, but if I'm not too tired maybe I'll join," Seungcheol says, smile also bright, but in a different way from Soonyoung’s, all gummy and warm. "It's nice seeing you, Jihoon! Your games were great, wish we could have played you again this time." 

"There's always the Daegu tournament." 

"My last one," Seungcheol's eyes become softer. "It'll be nice to meet you on the field one more time, Jihoon-ah. You're always fun to play against, it's like you're in my mind! I want to figure you out right back." 

Jihoon laughs, feeling shy again and before he can thank him, Seungcheol gets distracted trying to get Soonyoung to keep his voice down. 

"Today before the game Soonyoung did a whole speech about us winning. Our goal is to win, of course, especially since it’s been a while since our school got the President’s cup. But it felt like the stakes were even higher today," Wonwoo says when they're left alone. "Now I get why," he says, mouth quirking upwards, knowingly.

"It's not–" Jihoon defends quickly but Wonwoo is called away for a group photo. "It's not like that, damn it," Jihoon says to nobody in particular and answers his phone vibrating in his pocket when his parents call to ask where he's at. 

_you left, but don't forget the promise!!_

The text comes in when Jihoon is sitting at the restaurant with his parents and he swallows down the strange, nervous feeling. 

_lmk when you're done with the team meeting, i'll pick u up this time_

_deal!!_

⚾

Soonyoung texts him the address later that night around six. Thanks to the summer hours, there's still an hour until sunset and Jihoon is unsure why that’s his first thought. 

The Tigers are staying at a hotel near the stadium which is not the best area in Busan and Jihoon's neighborhood is kind of boring, so he asks if it's okay for them to meet at a central station and go from there. Soonyoung is eager and agrees easily, so they meet around seven at Seomyeon, Soonyoung arriving by himself. 

"The others didn't want to come?" 

"Everyone's tired!" Soonyoung grins, clearly not at all tired himself. "So where are we going?" 

"We could go to the beach area and walk around there?" 

"Sure!" 

The subway ride is quiet yet full, plenty of people going home after a long day of work. Jihoon is squished awkwardly close to Soonyoung, forehead nearly pressing to his nose. It's not really the most convenient way to talk. 

"You got a plan?" Soonyoung asks, and his breath lands warmly across his cheek. 

"We could watch the sunset at the beach," he says without thinking and realizes how much that actually sounds like a date activity. Soonyoung doesn't say anything, only smiling that cute, friendly smile that seems to permanently take residence on his face. 

"I'm hungry, too," Soonyoung adds. “So let’s get something to eat.” If it's his way to defuse the awkward situation, Jihoon appreciates it. 

"Yeah, yeah we'll eat," he says with a nudge. "There are a lot of nice places around there and some street food that is quite different from Seoul's." 

"Everything's fine with me," Soonyoung says and they're still so close, Jihoon can't quite breathe or meet his eyes. Damn it, is this really a date?! 

They get out at the beach station and catch the last bits of sunset that Soonyoung takes a million pictures of before they walk along the pier for a bit and then over to the shopping street with the food vendors. 

Despite Jihoon's nervousness, everything is casual. They mostly talk about baseball, of course, and a few other interests. Jihoon kind of wants to ask Soonyoung how many pitches he knows by now, but is afraid that'll make Soonyoung start asking to play catch. Plus, they’re still opponents. It would be inappropriate.

Jihoon gets them fish cakes, tteokbokki, a sliced blood sausage and some grilled clams to share. Soonyoung devours all of it, gladly, and when he's still hungry they get some pancakes – two savory and another sweet one for dessert. 

"Delicious!" Soonyoung licks his fingers when he's done with the last bite while Jihoon is too distracted staring at the tiny space between their bare knees. Seriously, what's wrong with him…?

"You want anything else?" He asks to busy his mind with anything else.

"I'm a bit thirsty," Soonyoung admits and Jihoon offers him his can of coke without thinking, which he accepts with a sheepish grin. 

"There's not a lot left." 

"It's fine, you can finish it." 

"Alright, thanks." 

Jihoon wrings his fingers, still not meeting Soonyoung's eyes, hating the thoughts taking shape in his head. _See?_ He tells himself, while Soonyoung drinks right from the can. _Who cares about an indirect kiss, I'm not some shoujo protagonist, goddamnit…_

"What should we do next?" Soonyoung asks, collecting all their trash in a plastic bag they were given earlier. 

"You really aren't tired?" 

"No way! I love being in new places." 

Jihoon chews on his lip. "I don't really go out much, but we could walk around and see what we feel like?" 

"Aren't you the catcher here? Call the shots, I'll follow," Soonyoung tells him with a grin and Jihoon swallows, hating how his heart soars at the words. 

They walk around for nearly an hour and end up at a small karaoke place that charges per song. They pay for ten and get one free. 

Jihoon learns that Soonyoung has quite an interesting voice, a little nasally but loud and pretty. He picks mostly K-pop songs with a strong affinity towards Shinee while Jihoon reveals his own secret passion for anime songs. The last song they sing is the opening theme to _Fullmoon o Sagashite_ and Jihoon tries not to think too hard about how happy it makes him that Soonyoung also happens to know all the words to the song. Actually, he kind of wishes he couldn't think at all. There are too many thoughts flowing into his brain, it's making him dizzy and the small, stuffy noraebang room isn’t helping either. 

When they leave, it's almost ten, and no matter how much Soonyoung wants to keep walking around, he really has to go back to his hotel. 

"You have the final tomorrow." 

"It's not until two!" 

"Soonyoung," Jihoon warns him and Soonyoung flushes. 

"Fine, fine!" He says a bit harshly and visibly swallows away the embarrassment of getting a little too hotheaded. Jihoon doesn't mind it though. Pitchers really are all the same in that regard, always wanting everything their own way.

They take the same train but Jihoon has to leave at Seomyang to get on another line. 

"You can get back yourself, right?" Jihoon asks when they're two stations away and Soonyoung nods, still not meeting his eyes. "No need to be so upset," he pokes his shoulder which finally gets Soonyoung to meet his eyes. "I had a good time, but you have a game tomorrow." 

Soonyoung stares at him briefly. "Right." 

Jihoon frowns. He doesn’t like how upset he sounds. 

"Next tournament is in Daegu.” The train turns and Jihoon is pushed a little forward, even closer to Soonyoung. "I can show you around there, too," he suggests quietly, his forehead nearly touching Soonyoung's cheek. His heart gets stuck in his throat, but he doesn't move away until the train straightens out again, and he meets Soonyoung's eyes with a small smile. 

"Okay," Soonyoung says, voice small. He's staring at him again, no longer upset, but more like–

The train jolts to a stop and Jihoon wets his lips, leaning a little away.

"I wanted to see Gamcheon," Soonyoung says suddenly. 

"Ahh, yeah that's a cool place," Jihoon leans on the closed doors behind him. 

"If I win tomorrow, will you take me there?" Soonyoung's eyes burn and it's really impossible to say no to him when he looks as fierce as he likely does on the mound, about to throw his killing shot. 

"Only if you win," Jihoon says, smile never disappearing from his face, and Soonyoung nods. It's a promise. 

⚾

The Tigers lose by one run. Jihoon watches the game on TV with his mom, and when she rubs his back kindly, he wonders if it's obvious that he's upset. 

"Busan’s third year pitcher is amazing," Jihoon says, to distract himself from the way Seungcheol’s cap hangs low over his eyes. He remembers Soonyoung saying they really wanted to win that one. "I read he's going pro in Japan next year." His mom hums, getting up to prepare something for lunch. 

He wonders if he should text Soonyoung about the loss. To tell him his four-seamer was beautiful and that he wishes he could catch his sinker. To tell him that he'll take him to Gamcheon anyway. But he doesn't, avoiding his phone for most of the day. 

_no gamcheon for me i guess_

The text was sent at around six thirty, Jihoon missed it by a few hours, away for dinner at his grandparents’. 

_i could still take you there if you'd like_ , Jihoon sends back without thinking. His heart beats loudly right at the base of his throat. 

_a deal's a deal, jihoon. but that made me feel a little better, thanks :)_

Jihoon tries not to feel upset, but he _is_. It makes him nauseous. He almost can't believe how much he wants to see him. 

_then i'll see you in daegu. make sure your forkball is perfect by then, nobody is supposed to hit it_

_you could tell it's a forkball?_ _you're really amazing jihoon_

Jihoon smiles, biting his lip. 

_it would be interesting to try and catch_

_are you just being nice to me because i lost?_

_no i mean it:D how many pitches do you have now?_

_loll how long did you wait to ask that? it's in the double digits :P if you actually catch for me some day, maybe i'll tell u_

_then i'll have to think about it_

Soonyoung doesn't answer right away and Jihoon waits a moment before leaving his phone on his bed to go brush his teeth and wash his face. When he returns, there's a new text and Jihoon's stomach curls, warm and nervous.

_i really wanted to win today jihoon for several reasons. im sorry. i'll see you in october_

It's weird, to feel this sad. He stares at the ceiling for a long time before he can't hold it in anymore and presses call. 

"Yeah?" Soonyoung answers on the fourth ring. Jihoon can hear some muffled voices in the background, he wonders if Soonyoung left the room to talk to him. 

"Tomorrow morning, I'll take you." 

Soonyoung is quiet for a moment. "I lost, though."

"You really wanted to win, right? Then there's even more reason to cheer you up.”

Soonyoung laughs, breathless. "We're leaving tomorrow at one." 

"Oh. Fine," Jihoon tries not to make his voice too obviously dejected. 

"I could wake up earlier, though?" Soonyoung offers quickly. "As long as I'm at the station on time, it should be okay." 

"Okay, yeah. That's fine. We could meet at Samyeong again around nine?" 

"I'll be there!" 

"Cool. Then I'll text you in the morning." 

"Okay," Soonyoung's voice sounds lighter and Jihoon is strangely proud of himself. _He_ is the reason why… It feels good.

"Hey, Jihoon?" 

"Hmm?" 

"Thanks." 

"It's no problem," Jihoon says softly before hanging up and continues staring at the ceiling, hand pressed against his chest. 

Damn it. 

He might really be in trouble.

⚾

They meet at the station at quarter to nine and spend the whole morning walking around the hills of Gamcheon, Jihoon taking pictures of Soonyoung for his Instagram and when he asks if they could take one together, Jihoon agrees, surprising both of them, and grins for a selfie.

It's a nice and warm day. They get some slushies and Jihoon shows Soonyoung the best places to get souvenirs for his family and friends, before they make their way back down. 

"I was really happy, when you offered to go anyway," Soonyoung tells him, mixing the melted sugar in his cup with his straw. "I was kind of afraid you're only hanging out with me because of the dumb deals," his mouth tilts up at the corner, a little crookedly, as he meets Jihoon's gaze from the corner of his eye. 

"It's true you were a little annoying at first," Jihoon shrugs, hands in his pockets. "But you're fun to spend time with," he admits. 

"Thank you," Soonyoung laughs. 

"This area is pretty, too. You should have the chance to see it regardless of a win or loss." 

"Plus it wasn't my pitching that–" 

Jihoon nudges him. 

"You shouldn’t be like that." It's true that it was Mingyu who pitched the first innings that gave away the few points the other team did manage to score. "It's a good experience for him, too." 

"Sure, sure." 

They get Soonyoung's duffel bag from the locker place they left it at earlier and take the subway to the train station. 

"You don't have to take me," Soonyoung mutters. 

"It's fine. If I lose the Tiger's ace, I don't want the whole country to curse me or something.”

"I won't get lost!" Soonyoung snaps, but he doesn't look too hostile especially when Jihoon laughs and his gaze softens. 

The train station is only a few stops away and before they know it, they're saying bye again. 

"Your team should be–" 

"I'll just call Seungcheol, it's fine," Soonyoung cuts him off, almost urgently, and Jihoon smiles because he’s being strangely cute, though he’s still slightly confused at the way Soonyoung's eyes are boring into him. 

"What is it?" 

"Nothing," Soonyoung relaxes, as if catching himself. "I had a really good time today. The other day, too."

"Yeah," Jihoon says, still smiling. "Same."

The silence stretches and Jihoon's smile falters at the way Soonyoung keeps staring at him. 

"You should go," he says softly. "Or you'll be late." 

"When we're in Daegu," Soonyoung says instead of listening to him. "Will you catch for me?" 

“Soonyoung–“

“Just a little bit! I can’t show you everything, but… I think you’ll be really impressed with me!”

 _I’m already impressed with you_ , Jihoon thinks, and shoves those thoughts quickly away.

"Yeah," he sighs, eyes closing in defeat. "Fine." 

When his eyes open again, he freezes. Soonyoung's face is definitely closer than it was just a moment ago. 

"Um," Jihoon says finally and Soonyoung leans away so quickly and suddenly that cool air fans across Jihoon's cheeks. 

"I'm sorry, there was something on–" Soonyoung shakes his head with an awkward wince. "Never mind, I–" He won't meet his eyes, cheeks and ears a bright red. There’s even a deep flush crawling down his neck. "I'm going to be late. I should go..." His eyes dart to Jihoon. "Sorry, I don't know– Um. Anyway, bye! I'll see you in a few months!" He starts walking backwards. "Stay healthy!" 

Jihoon doesn't move for a while, watching Soonyoung hurry the other way, the last few minutes replaying in his head in brutal slow motion. 

Someone bumps into him and Jihoon mutters an apology, heading back to catch the subway home. It's only when he's in bed that evening, thinking about Soonyoung's red face and his warm breath across his lips that he allows himself to accept that Soonyoung really did try to kiss him. In the dark, quiet hours of the night, it’s hard for Jihoon to imagine that he would have protested, if he had.

⚾

October approaches quickly with the last few months being almost entirely school and practice. It's the third years' last tournament, for real this time, so Jeonghan starts most of the games and Jihoon really doesn't mind as it's his last chance to play in a battery with Seokmin. 

Seokmin does well, too. He's improving quickly and even picked up a few breaking balls he didn't have last tournament. Jihoon doubts he has as many pitches as Soonyoung, but he's a year younger, so his repertoire isn't bad at all with nearly seven perfected grips. 

The Tigers are in a different bracket, but Jihoon still pays attention to how they're doing. After all, if they do end up playing against them, it'll be in the final. Jihoon wants to be prepared for that. At least that's what he tells himself when he watches reruns of the Tiger games, paying too much attention to how Soonyoung's balls break at the plate in case he gets a chance to catch them. 

No. 

_Hit_ them. Hit them!!! Damn it, Jihoon. 

They haven't talked much since August, both busy with practice and school. That's the excuse, and it's a good one, Jihoon thinks. He doesn't want to admit he has spent too many mornings waking up a little sweaty and bothered when his dreams remind him of Soonyoung's warm breath fanning across his face.

Fucking hell... 

When they do text, it's only to decide to meet when one of them drops out or after the finals. It was Jihoon's idea, Soonyoung had replied with a quick _okay_ and that was that. A little unnerving, sure, but at least he answered. 

It must be the third years’ motivation, because Daegu Academy sails through their games almost too easily, ending up in the finals in no time. The Tigers are having a good tournament, too, because they defeat the Busan champions by five runs in the semifinals, Daegu watching the game in the stands. When Seungcheol hits his third homerun of the game, Jihoon looks over at Seokmin who watches it happen with big, hungry eyes. 

"I want to strike him out," he says with a grin that's almost predatory, unfamiliar on Seokmin's kind face. 

"That's a good attitude," Jihoon admits. "They'll be a hard team to beat." 

"Aww, nervous about playing against your boyfriend?" Jeonghan says quietly in his ear and Jihoon ignores him pointedly. 

The announcer tells the stadium the Hana Tigers are going into the finals and there's a deep heat that forms in the pit of Jihoon's stomach as he watches Soonyoung lift and spin his brother in the air as their team celebrates getting this far again. 

"It's going to be a tough one," Jun says, despite playing some game on his phone for the last hour. "But we're stronger." 

"You think?" Seungkwan asks, genuinely, sounding just a little nervous. 

"Yeah, Jihoon can read their pitcher like the back of his hand," Jun says, too focused on his phone to notice how Jihoon pales at the way Jeonghan and Joshua stare at him with knowing smiles. 

⚾

The next day is cloudy and, as they stand for their greeting bow, Jihoon wonders, looking up at the sky, if it's going to rain. When he looks down, his eyes meet Soonyoung's down the line. Jihoon smiles hello at him and tucks in his lips when Soonyoung looks away, his ears red where they stick out from under the cap. 

The Tigers are fielding first when the game starts, and Soonyoung easily strikes out the first three batters. Seokmin answers with three strikes of his own, pitching to Jeonghan while Jihoon takes the spot in the right field, letting his hyung catch for his last game while remaining in the batting lineup. 

Jihoon is fourth to bat, and he smiles close-lipped as he takes his spot in the batting box. Soonyoung’s first two pitches are fastballs and Jihoon glances down at Vernon, impressed that he'd be brave enough to pitch something so straightforward to a clean-up hitter. Well anyway, it’s not like Jihoon tried hitting them so that’s entirely on him. Plus, it only means that the next pitch will be a breaking ball and Jihoon stays put as Soonyoung throws a sinker that's called a foul when it drops too low at the plate. 

Jihoon frowns. It was _too_ low actually, and from the way the Vernon shifts beneath him, he must be thinking the same thing. Jihoon is cornered, though, so he has almost no choice but to try and hit the next pitch. When he sees a straight ball flying right at him, he hits it quickly before it has a chance to break if it was going to, sending it all the way to the fence. 

The laugh Jihoon lets out is just a soft chuckle, but the way Vernon stares at him, deadpan and unfriendly, has him shutting up quickly as he starts running around the bases, fist up in the sky. He beams at Seungcheol and Wonwoo as he runs past them and when he glances at Soonyoung on the mound, his hand is gripping the rim of his cap, lowering it over his eyes. 

Huh... Strange. 

He's a bit worried at first, despite this being an opponent pitcher, but Soonyoung strikes out the next three pitchers easily. 

"Told you," Jun says to Seokmin who helps Jeonghan put his catcher gear back on. "Soonyoung has never been able to strike Jihoon out." 

Despite the sour taste that leaves in Jihoon's mouth, Seokmin seems to gain confidence from it, pitching even better in the second and third inning, allowing only one hit that's saved by a fielder all the way to the left. 

When it's Jihoon's at-bat again, the pitches Soonyoung sends are wobbly. It's almost disappointing. 

"What's going on here?" Jihoon asks, despite himself, and Vernon scoffs.

"I'd also like to know." He calls a time out and runs up to Soonyoung, who seems to avoid meeting his catcher's eye, and when Vernon returns, looking rather reluctant, he sighs, crouching down. "He's refusing to walk you," he says and Jihoon doesn't know what affects him more, the fact that he's sharing the information or that Soonyoung seems unable to pitch his best to him, but still refuses to give up. 

Jihoon takes his position as fourth batter seriously though, so no matter how bad he feels about all this, he has to give it his best, hitting a ball into the centerfield that the fielders fail to catch. 

At first base, Seungcheol glares at Jihoon and his mouth goes dry. Jihoon stays silent, though, not sure what to say. When he tries to steal second base, Seungcheol speaks. 

"Want to tell me what you've done to my brother?" 

"I didn't do anything," Jihoon watches Jeonghan's at bat, his teasing smile, and focused eyes. "He's doing well." 

"But he can't strike you out." 

"I'm a clean-up batter for a reason, hyung." Jihoon tries to stay polite, but this isn't really time for conversation, so when Soonyoung goes in for a second pitch, Jihoon steals, quickly and succeeds despite being too rash. When he looks up, Vernon is ready to throw but has paused since Jihoon already made it. Still, good instincts for a first year. 

Soonyoung is also staring at him, and when Jihoon meets his gaze, he raises a brow and smiles.

The next ball Soonyoung pitches is so awful – for Soonyoung's standards at least – that Jihoon actually grimaces when Jeonghan hits it. The ball flies into centerfield again and Jeonghan makes it to first base safely, while Jihoon ends up on third, Wonwoo catching the ball only after Jihoon touches base. 

"Safe!" The umpire screams and Jihoon readjusts his helmet, watching Soonyoung with a frown. 

"Hey," Jihoon says, after Wonwoo throws the ball back to Soonyoung for the next pitch. "Can you do me a favor?" 

Wonwoo laughs, but it's sour. "Are you really in the position to ask me that?" 

Jihoon ignores that. "Tell Soonyoung I'm calling off our deal unless he strikes me out."

Wonwoo doesn't answer right away and Jihoon has to look over at him to make sure he heard him over the crowd’s screaming.

"You two are weird as hell," he mutters and then signals their catcher for a time out. 

Jihoon can't hear them over on the mound, so he meets Jeonghan's eyes instead, guilt pressing against his chest when he finds Jeonghan frowning at him. 

When Wonwoo comes back after a minute, he's smirking at Jihoon. 

"When you lose, it'll be your fault." 

"Shut up," Jihoon groans, suddenly realizing his mistake. 

Soonyoung strikes the next three batters no problem and Jihoon never makes the point. When Jeonghan glares at him back in the dugout, he tries to feel bad, he really does. But when Soonyoung had smiled at him as they went to their own sides, it felt kind of worth it. And when Soonyoung throws him his best three pitches and finally strikes Jihoon out, it's also kind of worth it. 

They still win the game in the end, Jihoon's first homerun, and the hits they got in the seventh inning – Jun's quick hit and run, Joshua's bunt, Seokmin's hit to the centerfield, Jihoon's to the left, and Jeonghan's double RBI – it was a beautiful relay, really, getting them three points to weigh out the homerun Seungcheol had hit off Seokmin in the inning before. 

Soonyoung seemed a little confused himself when it all had happened so quickly, but his pitches became easy to read, as well as the calls his catcher was making, especially after Jihoon had three at-bats. And that's beyond the fact that the other players on Jihoon’s team could think for themselves. 

It is a satisfactory win. Jeonghan actually tears up when he's given the trophy and then hides his face under his cap when Joshua and Seokmin hug him close. Jihoon never thought his hyung could breakdown like that. He's even more flustered when Jeonghan pulls him in for a hug, too, pressing his face into his sweaty neck and squeezing him close.

"Take care of the team, Jihoonie," he whispers in his ear and Jihoon nods, blinking away the burning feeling in his eyes. 

When Jihoon finally looks over at the Tigers, he's surprised that Soonyoung is the one crying the hardest, Seungcheol's big arm wrapped around his shoulders, pulling his brother close. For a moment he feels scared that it's all his fault, but he brushes the thought away. 

This is baseball. They're here to play their best _baseball_... If feelings got in the way of Soonyoung's best game, that's really not his problem. 

⚾

Their team celebrates the win at a small barbeque place by their school they frequent often enough that the owner treats them to extra meat and unlimited side dishes. Jihoon tries not to be obvious about how often he checks his phone, but there are no notifications at all other than a congratulations from his mom since they watched the game on TV. 

"You seem on edge, hyung. We _won_!" Seungkwan grins at him and Jihoon smiles forcibly. 

"Yeah. Yeah, everything is okay," he says on autopilot even though Seungkwan didn't really ask. 

Honestly, everything _was_ okay. He's happy they won and he doesn't really feel guilty that Soonyoung couldn't keep his feelings in check considering he even relayed a message to help. Right. This isn't his problem. He can make his little lettuce wraps and enjoy the last night with his hyungs on the team. 

They're being loaded back onto their bus when Jihoon checks his phone one more time and is surprised to find a text. 

_catch for me_

Jihoon's breath gets caught in his throat and his heart hammers. God. It's probably not natural that hearing those words gets such a bodily reaction from him. 

_when?_

_im at ur school_

Jihoon actually lets out a small laugh at that. "Idiot," he mutters and texts him that he'll be there in twenty minutes. 

⚾

Soonyoung is sitting on the bench outside their practice field when Jihoon arrives, still in his game clothes, duffel bag by his feet.

"How did you–" 

Soonyoung doesn't look up when he interrupts. "Naver Maps exists, you know? It wasn't that hard," he meets his eyes then. "Shall we?" 

There is a weird atmosphere between them. Jihoon follows Soonyoung quietly to the diamond, putting on just his glove if they're only going to be playing some catch. Soonyoung silently takes his spot on the mound and leaves his burning gaze on Jihoon as he watches him settle on the plate, mitt out and open for him. 

"How many pitches?" Jihoon asks, loud enough that Soonyoung will hear him. 

"I’ll throw ten," Soonyoung says, bending to stretch his waist and then twisting his torso. "Ready?" 

"I don't even know what you'll throw–" 

"Just show me your mitt. I'll throw wherever you want." 

There aren't many words a catcher enjoys hearing more than that. Jihoon shifts a little to the left, mitt low. 

"Wanna see my forkball that bad, huh?" Soonyoung's brow lifts, as he raises his leg and throws the perfect pitch. 

He's really incredible, Jihoon thinks, after catching ten different pitches. His change up is particularly beautiful. It looks almost like it flies in slow-motion before it lands powerfully in his mitt, exactly where Jihoon asked for it. He doesn't know why it makes him feel... Sad almost. Like something in his heart is emptying every time Soonyoung throws the perfect ball.

It's even worse because Soonyoung hasn't smiled at all.

“Let’s do five more.”

"You threw a lot today, we shouldn't–" 

"I'm fine!" Soonyoung snaps and Jihoon sighs, getting up. 

"I don't appreciate attitude from my pitchers." 

"Good thing I'm not your pitcher then," Soonyoung's voice is sharp and cruel. Jihoon frowns. 

"Well, then, maybe you should go back to your own catchers," Jihoon takes off his glove, watching Soonyoung glare at the ground. 

Jihoon doesn't even feel upset for him anymore. Now he's just pissed. And he's too tired for this. 

"I'm sure you can find your way out," he tells him and Soonyoung doesn't move off the mound as Jihoon makes his way back to his bag to put the mitt inside and wipe his forehead despite it being chilly outside. 

He stays sitting there for a second, staring pointlessly at his bag. He doesn't want to leave things like this, but Soonyoung...

They aren't friends, he and Soonyoung. The few times they hung out are all they've ever given each other. Even now, creating a battery, was stepping into a dangerous zone. They still had another year to play against each other, and Soonyoung was here, letting Jihoon catch his best pitches. See them, _feel_ them inside his mitt. It was unheard of among rivals and it was selfish of both of them, shouldn’t today’s game have been warning enough? 

So they aren't friends. But, Jihoon guesses, they aren't really enemies either. 

Jihoon thinks back to opening his eyes to Soonyoung's face right before him and lets out a shallow breath, finally getting up. 

When he turns around, Soonyoung is at the entrance to the dugout. 

"What?" Jihoon asks, as harsh as Soonyoung was earlier. 

"I'm sorry," he says quietly.

Jihoon is still a little annoyed. "Whatever, Soonyoung. It's late. You still need to get back so let's call it off–" 

"I couldn't pitch to you today." 

"Yeah, I noticed. That third time was better, though."

Soonyoung takes a step closer and Jihoon's breath gets caught in his throat. 

"Jihoon, I like you." 

Jihoon's mouth opens but nothing comes out.

"Not just as a catcher. Or maybe _because_ I like you as a catcher. But... I think it’s more than that. That time in Busan, I wanted to kiss you." 

Jihoon's mouth is dry and his tongue is too heavy. He can't say he's surprised... Or maybe he's too surprised. He never thought Soonyoung would actually say anything. 

"You don't have to say anything, but I needed to get that off my chest." Their eyes meet. "So something like today won't happen again." 

"Why did you make me catch for you, then?" 

Soonyoung smiles lightly. "To get it out of my system? I don't know. I wanted to feel better." 

"As selfish as ever..." 

Soonyoung watches him and comes closer. The back of Jihoon's knees press against the dugout chairs with nowhere to run as Soonyoung stops right in front of him.

"One day, I'd like for you to be my catcher. _My_ catcher only.” 

"I–" 

Soonyoung's fingers, pretty pitcher fingers, touch Jihoon's cheek and Jihoon truly cannot move his body at all, watching back. 

"If you want... I could be your pitcher, too... Just yours. We could be partners," Soonyoung's eyes drift down to Jihoon's mouth and really Jihoon feels like he's about to fall back and melt. 

_Kiss me,_ he thinks. _Come on..._

"No need to look so scared,” Soonyoung smiles, finger brushing the sensitive skin of his cheek. "I'll wait for your sign."

He steps away and the cold air hits Jihoon like a truck. He nearly gasps from it, watching as Soonyoung takes a step back, waves, and turns to leave. 

"Soonyoung!" Jihoon calls when Soonyoung is about to step out of the field. "Our deal.”

Soonyoung frowns. “But I lost–” 

“You still struck me out, though. So, the Daegu tour," he reminds him, feeling the painful burn on his cheeks. "Do you have time for it?" 

When Soonyoung grins, it is entirely too perfect, like Soonyoung's most beautiful pitch right into his mitt.

⚾

Jihoon reaches his dorms, too lost in his head to really comprehend what just happened. Did he just ask Soonyoung out on a proper date? Especially following a confession like that... He thinks he did. It definitely looked like it from the way Soonyoung smiled at him, as if Jihoon just blew his mind. 

Jeonghan sits on a bench with Joshua right at the entrance, and Jihoon pauses, realizing they're both staring at him. 

"Yes?" Jihoon asks, fingers tight on his bag. 

"Nothing," Jeonghan teases. "Did you have fun with your boyfriend?" 

"I don't have a boyfriend," Jihoon says coolly. 

"Right, right, well maybe he's just your pitcher." 

"Maybe he's just that," Jihoon replies and avoids the way Joshua bursts out laughing when he walks past them and to his room to drop off his things and grab toiletries for the shower. 

There's nobody in the bathrooms at this hour, so Jihoon takes his time under the warm stream of water. 

His boyfriend... 

His pitcher...

His partner...

What could Soonyoung be to him? What does Jihoon want from him…?

Right now, he thinks, hands shampooing his hair, he kind of wants to kiss him and see if there’s an answer in that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> there is a part 2, i'll be uploading it soon (definitely on saturday but maybe even tonight if i finish editing~)
> 
> thank you for reading, thoughts are always appreciated c: as always u can find me at @aquariusblues_ on twit!! <3


	2. Chapter 2

Jihoon’s dreams are plagued with powerful pitches into the center of his mitt and smiles so bright they're difficult to look at. He wakes up, curled into a ball, to strong knocking on his door. 

Jihoon groans, rolling to his side, and watches the door, willing for whoever is on the other side to _leave_. It's probably a little past nine now. Jun wakes up early, usually, and is probably already either out on a run or spending his day off away from campus, hanging out with the friends he has around Daegu. 

"Who is it?!" Jihoon yells, sitting up and rubbing his eyes. The person outside seems to take that as an invitation, because he barges in, loud and demanding. 

"Jihoon-hyung! Catch for me!" 

"Seokmin," Jihoon's hands are on his face and he lets out a heavy sigh. "Not first thing in the morning. 

"I already warmed up!" 

“I didn’t.”

"I'll wait for you! Please, Jihoon-hyung," he adds. His voice sounds oddly shaky, enough that Jihoon feels the need to look over at him to check if he's alright. 

The sunlight coming from the door blinds him a little, but Seokmin's eyes are earnest and red. As if he hasn't slept, or like he's been crying. 

"Is everything–" 

"Please, hyung, play catch with me. Just for a little bit." 

"Okay, fine," Jihoon agrees, finally. "Give me fifteen to get ready, at least." 

"I'll wait in the bullpen." 

He leaves with that, quick and merciless. Jihoon thinks for the umpteenth time, pitchers really are all the same. 

It takes him five minutes to get dressed and brush his teeth, another three to drink enough water to wake him up, pee, and finally check his phone. It's after ten thirty, and he realizes there are a few texts from Soonyoung all the way from eight in the morning. 

_hey, i didn't know if you actually meant it, but if you want to give me that tour, we leave at one so we can do it beforehand?_

_jihoon?_

_alright idk if youre asleep or ignoring me. either way no pressure, but maybe do let me know so i dont sit around here like an idiot hoping_

Jihoon curses at himself and quickly writes back a reply. 

  
  


_hey yeah sorry i overslept. we can still do the tour but i need to catch for seokmin first_

_sure jihoon, i get it, but our train leaves at one so i dont think i'll make it. maybe some other time_

_can you change the ticket?_

_not unless i pay for my own :P it's fine jihoon. we have another tournament in january_

January. Fucking hell. He's too annoyed with himself to answer so he slides his phone into his pocket and grabs his mitt, going to the bullpen to meet with Seokmin. 

Seokmin is there, stretching his shoulder and licks his lips nervously when Jihoon finally shows up. 

"I'm sorry." 

Jeez, does Jihoon look that angry?

"It's okay, let's just get to it." 

Seokmin swallows and nods, waiting for Jihoon to stretch his knees before he squats, mitt out and ready to catch.

Compared to Soonyoung, Seokmin's pitches hit harder. Seokmin is a fastball expert, his strong lower body and height adds to the speed and power of the pitch, while Soonyoung's are interesting in how they break at the plate. Even as the catcher, you're never quite sure where they'll drop and how they will surprise the batter. Neither pitching style is better or worse, they're both interesting, but catching there, light completely gone from Seokmin's eyes is no fun at all.

"Nice pitching," Jihoon tells him, throwing the ball back. His phone sits uncomfortably in his pocket and he raises his hand to take it out, walking over the bench to leave it there. He presses the home button briefly and sees no new notifications. 

"Is everything alright?" 

Jihoon snaps out of it and drops his phone a little recklessly onto the bench. 

"I'm good." 

"Jeonghan mentioned that Soonyoung visited our school last night to play catch with you." 

Jihoon's lips purse. "Only for a little. He's a friend." Seokmin still looks upset, so Jihoon decides to ask, "Is that why you wanted to play catch?" 

Seokmin laughs as if he didn't expect the question. "No, not really. Jeonghan left this morning." 

"Ahh... It's just for their week off, he still has classes until he graduates." 

"His parents live in Daegu, so he'll be staying with them until he graduates." 

"He's still around, though. He's not going to disappear." 

Seokmin doesn't seem to be listening and Jihoon licks his lips, he's not very good at these hyung things. 

"Should we keep playing?" He asks instead and Seokmin nods. Jihoon puts his glove back on, taking his place and catches a few more of Seokmin's pitches. 

Part of what makes Seokmin a pitcher that's so special, is his attitude, Jihoon thinks. He's bright and cheerful, and has the energy to lift up the morale of a whole team. His smile is big and bright, too, his eyes are warm and trusting, and he's loud, exciting. He's truly _alive_ . But this... It's still Seokmin, it's still his strong pitches, but it feels wrong. It feels _sad_. 

"Seokmin, do you want to talk about it?" Jihoon asks, before throwing the ball back at him. 

"Can't I talk through my pitches?" 

Jihoon smiles at that. "You _are_. A little too loudly, actually. You seem... Upset." 

"Of course, I'm upset! I just lost my catcher." Jihoon tries not to get offended by that and Seokmin must realize how bad his wording sounds. "I know you're my catcher too, of course! And we're going to be the best battery ever, Jihoon-hyung! But I loved playing with Jeonghan and... And I'm never going to be able to play with him again so of course I'm upset!" 

There he is. Loud Seokmin, except this kind of miserable loudness was never one Jihoon wanted to hear from him. 

"How do you know–" 

"He's not going pro," Seokmin says. "He left early to discuss with his parents what he wants to do next year, and he's thinking of studying physical therapy. Which is... It's really cool! I'm super proud of him!" It takes a moment for Jihoon to realize Seokmin is crying and he feels his brows furrow tightly. "But I wanted to keep playing with him! There's just something about finding the right battery, you know?! Do you know what I'm saying?! It's like magic... It's like art! I'm never going to make that kind of art again!" 

Jihoon's breath is stuck awkwardly in his throat. Work of art. He's heard Jeonghan say that before, but he never really understood it. Then he thinks about Soonyoung's perfect pitches, their precision and their power, the way Soonyoung's eyes are alive on the mound when he's concentrating, when he's happy, when he's upset, expressing it with his whole body. The way his pitches seem alive, too, twisting, before they land perfectly in his mitt. How much fun Jihoon had catching him four years ago and last night, too.

"Yeah. I get you, Seokmin-ah," Jihoon says finally, then gets up and comes up to his pitcher, putting one hand comfortingly on his shoulder. "Let's go wash up? You don't have to force yourself to play catch if it's not making you feel better." 

Seokmin nods, nose red and eyes wet. "He didn't even say bye, you know?" 

"Because he doesn't feel the need to," Jihoon says kindly. "He's not disappearing. You're forever going to be his last pitcher. I think his favorite, too." 

"Jeonghan kept saying you'll be a mean catcher. But you're really quite nice, Jihoon-hyung." 

Jihoon laughs softly and pats Seokmin's shoulder. "Go wash your face and cooldown." 

"Yes. I'll see you later, thanks for talking with me." 

"We're partners now, right?" 

Seokmin beams then, and it's his genuine, bright smile, even with his blurry, red eyes. It's easy to smile back. Jihoon watches him leave and then goes to his phone, staring at the empty home screen. 

A work of art between pitcher and catcher.

_if i pay for your ticket will you go on that tour with me?_

He texts without thinking, gritting his teeth against the stillness of his heart. 

_is that your call? tell me what you want from me_

_please stay_

_even if you dont say please, i’ll listen. when and where do i meet you?_

Jihoon lets out a breath and smiles. 

### ⚾

He meets Soonyoung outside his school thirty minutes later. Soonyoung doesn't have his duffel bag, but there's a small pouch resting across his chest and when Jihoon joins him, he waves a ticket. 

"Apparently same day changes are free!" 

"So you were being dramatic for no reason?" 

"But it showed me how romantic you are!" 

Jihoon turns away, leading them down the path out of the school, and hopes he isn't blushing. 

"Did they let you go easily?" 

"Sure, I told them I'm meeting with a friend, I just have to report to the coach's office when I get back tonight." 

Jihoon nods, digging through his mind for more empty conversation topics out of nervousness. 

"So, where are we going?" Soonyoung says, saving him. 

"Um. There's a really nice Buddhist Temple, and we could take a cable car ride to the top of the mountain." That's what he did with his parents when they first visited Daegu. He doesn't want Soonyoung to know how little he actually knows about the city he’s lived in the last couple of years. Most of the time he's just on campus. 

"Sounds good!" 

Jihoon checks his phone, finding the temple quickly and realizes it's an hour train ride. 

"I have until six, it's all good,” Soonyoung says when Jihoon seems to hesitate.

Damn it, Jihoon thinks. Soonyoung is seriously way too nice. Is this the same dude that demands to play catch with zero regard for his catcher? Is baseball really another standard for him?

They take the subway and Jihoon pays for their tickets, two for the train and two more for the cable car later on. It ends up being quite expensive, but he hopes his parents take these expenses as the emergency they told Jihoon to use the credit card for. Oops. It's his birthday soon, anyway. 

On the subway, they look through baseball news and Soonyoung tells Jihoon of the Japanese scouts that have been contacting Seungcheol and even a few teams from the States. 

"He wants to go to university, though, so he might end up studying in Japan and joining the college league. It's pretty big there!" 

"Have you thought about what you'd want to do?" 

"After next year?" Soonyoung tilts his head, thinking about it. "I'll definitely keep playing baseball. Beyond that... I'm not sure!" He grins. "I don't know how much I care about getting a degree, but we'll see how I feel this time next year," he smiles, meeting Jihoon's eyes and they're way too close like this, shoulders pressed close on the half-empty train. There aren't many people going to tourist places this early in November and it’s almost strangely intimate. 

"Same," Jihoon says, looking away. "I want to keep playing for as long as I can. I don't know if I could find the same excitement anywhere else," he adds.

"I know exactly what you mean," Soonyoung sighs, happily.

It's nice to talk to people who understand, Jihoon thinks, and watches how Soonyoung's hand is just a few centimeters away from his own, resting idly on his thigh. 

They talk about some other places they've traveled to. Apparently Soonyoung goes to Japan quite often and visits Indonesia almost yearly with his whole family. Jihoon tells him of the American baseball camps he's gone to and how one of his favorite places he's ever been to is the Yankee's stadium. 

"I'd like to play there one day," he admits a little cheekily as they get off the train and Soonyoung's eyes widen. 

"Big dreams! I think my dream stadium is Hanshin!" 

"The Koshien one?" 

"Yeah!" 

Jihoon smiles. "Yeah," he agrees. "That's a good one." 

The hike up to the Temple takes a little while but it's not horrible, and the grounds there are pretty enough that it's worth it. There's a small cart selling snacks and drinks, so Soonyoung buys them a bottle of water to share. Jihoon still hates how affected he is by trivial things like that. 

When Soonyoung has taken enough photos, they go back down and take the cable cart up to the top of the mountain where they have lunch that Soonyoung pays for. Up on the lookout, Soonyoung keeps taking more pictures, and Jihoon gets Soonyoung to take some of him to send to his parents, which his mom replies to with a heart emoji. Jihoon bets it's nice for them to see their son do something other than baseball. Maybe they really will take this as emergency money spending. 

On the way to the mountaintop, they had been in a cable cart with an elderly Canadian couple that asked them a few questions about where in Korea they're from, but on the way down they're in line in front of a huge family and are allowed to take a cable cart just the two of them. 

"Did you have fun today?" Jihoon asks, looking over at Soonyoung with his nose pressed against the glass as he watches the woods below them. 

Soonyoung blinks and meets his eyes. "Yes! Seriously, thank you." 

"This morning," Jihoon starts, without meaning to, "I caught for Seokmin–" 

"Uhuh,” Soonyoung’s eyes narrow. “Way to rub it in." 

Jihoon laughs and nudges him lightly. "Just listen. He was upset because Jeonghan isn't going pro, so they're probably never going to play together again. And I thought... Well, isn't he being a little rude, complaining to his new catcher about how much he wants his old one back. But Seokmin said... He said, sometimes a battery is like a work of art, and he doesn't think he can ever recreate what he had with Jeonghan with anyone else." 

Soonyoung watches him intensely as he speaks, Jihoon can feel his gaze but can't quite meet it, looking down at the view instead. 

"He asked if I knew what he meant." 

"What did you say?" Soonyoung asks, a little too seriously.

Jihoon scoffs, and finally meets Soonyoung's eyes. "What do you think?"

"I don't know if you’re ready to hear it." 

That makes Jihoon laugh. "I thought... I thought there's a pitcher who's worming his way annoyingly into my life, onto the mound before me, standing there with his stupid tiger gaze and demanding I keep catching and catching and catching just for him. And I thought... I _realized_ that I really don't mind at all. It scares me more to never experience that feeling again.” 

He smiles but Soonyoung isn't smiling back, watching him seriously. 

"Can I kiss you, Jihoon?" 

Jihoon lets out a short breath. 

"Sure." 

Jihoon feels Soonyoung's cold fingers on his cheeks before their mouths meet, and then it's warm and quiet, save for the loud whirring of the cable cart. It's just them. And they're just kissing. And it's kind of amazing... A whole new type of art. 

They kiss gently, as if both unsure what they're doing, until the cable cart starts jolting to a stop and Soonyoung's fingers curl against Jihoon’s nape to hold him steady, before he lets him go just as the doors slide open. 

If the cable car worker noticed anything, Jihoon can't tell. He can't seem to care either, dragging Soonyoung out because he won’t stop staring at him instead of moving. 

It's a small downhill walk back to where the buses are, but Soonyoung stops suddenly, pulling Jihoon in by his hand and dragging him off the path, through some trees and pressing him against one, away from where anyone would see. 

“Can I…”

“Yeah, Soonyoung. Are you going to ask every time?” 

“Your call–”

Jihoon kisses him first, this time, and more eagerly, wrapping his arms around Soonyoung’s neck to pull him close. It feels just a little surreal to him, a little wonderful. He never thought that out of all the people he might kiss in his life, the first person will Soonyoung in the early November forest, while he’s pressed against a tree. 

But it’s good, he thinks, opening his mouth subconsciously to deepen the kiss. It feels right, almost as right as Soonyoung’s pitches landing swiftly in his mitt. When their tongues meet, he giggles. Maybe this, too, is a different type of battery. 

"What's funny?" 

"You don't want to know," Jihoon mutters and Soonyoung pecks his bottom lip. 

"Try me." 

"I was thinking," he licks his lips, eyes closed, their noses brushing warmly against each other. "This is just another form of pitching, isn't it? Like if my mouth is a mitt and your–" 

"You're right," Soonyoung says, kissing him quickly. "Stop talking." 

Jihoon laughs then and lets the noise get swallowed by Soonyoung's warm kisses. 

⚾

Post-third years departure, a new team is built, and it takes up too much of Jihoon’s time to perfect it, especially when Jeonghan very graciously tells him he’s the next captain. 

It kind of makes sense, really, Jihoon’s new position. He was their clean-up hitter as well as their main catcher. He knew the game inside out and the team respected him, not just his pitchers. Apparently the third years unanimously voted for Jihoon, and Jihoon accepts the role, despite his initial shock. 

Still, just because he is good at baseball doesn't mean he'll make a good captain. Like Soonyoung for example. A star pitcher, sure, but Wonwoo was the one declared the new captain for the Hana Tigers and it made perfect sense. Jihoon had texted Soonyoung that when he sent him crying emojis over remaining as only the ace. 

_why are you so rude, i could be a great leader!_

_you're a great ace, too. there are other people on the team who can help you lead, share the responsibility_

Soonyoung had maturely sent back an eye roll emoji and, later that night, had also sent a red heart. 

That day in Daegu when Soonyoung had kissed him against that tree until their warm breaths weren't enough to keep away the coldness of the mountain. They had walked sheepishly down to the buses and held hands between their thighs on their way to the train station. 

"Text me?" Soonyoung had asked.

"Text me when you get back to school first," Jihoon nudged his chest, the way he would with his mitt and Soonyoung grinned. 

"See you in January, partner." 

"Yeah," Jihoon scoffed. "Too early to call ourselves that, maybe," he had smiled sheepishly, "but see you." 

Soonyoung had looked like he wanted to ask what Jihoon meant exactly, but the announcer called for his train and Jihoon waved, turning and hurrying out of the station. 

_In a year then?_ Soonyoung had texted and Jihoon kept smiling all the way home. 

It was a little unclear, what that day had meant. Jihoon still isn’t sure if there is something official between them, something that might grow into something more permanent. But he misses Soonyoung in the next few months, especially when there’s so little time to talk. 

The day before January's tournament, Jihoon can’t sleep and Jun has to throw a small bunny plushie at him at around four in the morning because he won’t stop moving. 

"Did you sleep at all?" Jun asks the next morning, apologizing for his midnight violence.

"Uh-huh..." Jihoon mutters. The tournament this year is in Incheon, so they have a long bus ride and, although Seungkwan sits next to him to ask some questions about their first line up, he lets his hyung sleep most of the way there. 

They play a Busan team first and, with Jeonghan's luck gone, it's the strong Busan team. Still, Busan’s starting battery used to be third years and the win against the newly founded battery is easy, despite the frigid cold. 

Outside of the changing room, Jihoon notices the game list. The Tigers are only playing tomorrow, so he opts for the warm hotel bath instead of watching more games at the stadium. All of the games this tournament are in quick succession, since they take place from Thursday to Sunday. Because of the January cold, nobody wants to leave the hotel unless it’s for a game, so Jihoon doesn't go watch it the next day either.

Soonyoung tries to find a time to see him, but Jihoon is truly busy with game preparations and even a couple of interviews as the new captain of one of South Korea's best high school baseball teams. Usually, Jihoon doesn't answer Soonyoung right away most times which gets Soonyoung's replies all short and pissy. Jihoon feels bad. 

_there's a lot going on im sorry_

_its fine. i get it. i just wanted to see you_

Jihoon's lips are red, dry, and swollen from the winter cold and his constant biting them. Before he can think of a proper reply, he's called by Seokmin to go warm-up before their semifinal game. 

_I have a game now ill talk to u after_

The message is read but Soonyoung doesn't reply right away and Jihoon sighs, dropping his phone into his bag. He can't think about that right now. It’s not like he knows how to behave in this kind of situation, either. 

They lose the game by a few runs. It's not anyone's fault but the January cold, especially when it starts drizzling and Jun lands on his face while trying to score a run. His nose bleeds and they watch from the dugout as their assistant coach takes him to the infirmary, Jun laughing it off, blood staining his teeth. 

The whole team had looked at Jihoon then, and Jihoon really didn’t know what to do or what to say. That's not the type of player he knows how to be. He can lead gameplay, give them strategies, but this... 

He opens his mouth, weakly, but is saved with Seokmin's loud clap and Seungkwan’s kind words. 

"Alright, you guys! We aren't letting Jun’s nosebleed get in the way of this game, are we?! If he's going to bleed out trying to score, the least we can do is get a point back!" 

Jihoon does manage to hit a nice pitch, but it's caught right before the fence and the game is lost just as Jihoon is crossing the first base. He comes to a stop, hands on his knees as he stares at the frigid fake grass. 

Pathetic captain, truly. 

He couldn't say anything and he couldn't do anything. 

He feels a warm hand at his back and looks up to see Jun smiling at him with a white, thick band-aid over his nose, offering his other hand to straighten him up. 

"This isn't even an official tournament," he tells him with a small smile. “We did fine.”

Jihoon nods, but it still feels like a frustrating failure. “Are you okay?” He asks Jun.

“Might leave a bruise, but I’m fine. It didn’t break or anything,” Jun’s smile is reassuring and Jihoon relaxes a little more. 

“That’s good.”

Still, it was his first tournament as captain and he couldn't win it for his team. He couldn't even find the words to keep them going. And not just with his words, he certainly failed with his actions, too. 

He's impassive as they shake the opponent's hands and when he goes back to the locker room there are still no new texts on his phone. He thinks a little bitterly, maybe if Soonyoung had wished him good luck...

He groans, throwing the phone back inside, and puts on his jacket, wrapping a thick scarf around his neck. He just wants a warm bath, that's all. Maybe some good food. Maybe to call his mom. 

"You coming?" Seokmin asks. 

"Yeah." 

"I liked your calls today, Jihoon-hyung. You're pretty reckless when you want me to throw the same pitch three times in a row, or an inside pitch to a clean-up hitter!” He shakes his head, as if shuddering at recalling it. “But, you know, playing with you makes me feel brave," Seokmin adds, grinning at him, and there's a weight that lifts off Jihoon’s heart, just a little.

"Thanks, Seokmin-ah. You did well today." 

They walk out into the hallway, and as soon as Jihoon sees orange, he realizes what's about to happen. 

"Damn it," he mutters and Seokmin glances warily at him. 

Some Tiger players who he doesn’t know walk by first, along with Vernon who passes with just a nod hello, followed by Mingyu, taller than Seokmin now, waving at Jihoon. 

"Jihoon-hyung! Sorry about your loss, we really wanted to beat you in the finals." 

"There's always next year," Jihoon smiles tightly and Seokmin crosses his arms. 

"Worry about your own game!" 

"I am, don't _you_ worry either," Mingyu seems a little shy suddenly and smiles, cheeks red. "See you guys around?" He jolts suddenly, as if being shoved lightly from behind.

"Get moving," Wonwoo tells him. "You still need to warm-up!" 

"Yes, sir!" Mingyu waves and hurries away while Wonwoo looks coolly at Jihoon. Jihoon wonders if he holds a grudge for their November loss. 

"I saw Jun had an accident.” 

"He'll be fine," he feels a strange tension he's not fond of. There's one last player approaching from the end of the hallway and Jihoon is nervous when he looks over at Soonyoung. He’s excited at first, despite the nervousness, but Soonyoung’s eyes are blatantly on his phone.

With how things left off last time, Jihoon didn't think he'd feel this shit at their eventual reunion. It has been two months. Did anything change? Did Soonyoung change his mind about him? Does he regret that they… It's possible. Especially now seeing as–

"That's good.” Wonwoo distracts Jihoon and Jihoon tears away his gaze from Soonyoung to meet Wonwoo’s kind smile. Belatedly, he realizes Wonwoo isn’t mad or anything, he’s probably just as stressed over being a new captain, the same way Jihoon is.

"Yeah, good luck on your game." 

"Thanks," he waves and then looks over his shoulder. "Come on, Soonyoung. Just because you're not starting, doesn't mean you should slack off." 

Jihoon feels sick when he looks at Soonyoung again, who is frowning at him almost comically.

"You lost," he says. What a beautiful thing to say to someone you’ve kissed for the first time two months ago and haven’t seen since. 

"Yeah," he answers, coldly. Wonwoo clears his throat and Soonyoung ignores him. 

"Since there are no more games in the way, can we talk now?" He asks, completely uncaring that there are others around. 

" _You_ have a game now." 

That seems like the opposite of what Soonyoung wanted to hear. He seems confused, even hurt by it. His brows tense and lips purse before he lets out a sharp sigh.

"Right, let's go, Wonwoo," he says and Wonwoo seems unsure but when Soonyoung starts walking first, he looks helplessly at Jihoon and follows. 

Jihoon stands with his mouth, half-open. What was that?!

"Jihoon-hyung?" 

Jihoon shakes his head, and doesn't really know what to say. He's not even sure if he can speak right now. His voice feels gone. 

Asshole... 

Seriously. Asshole!

Jihoon feels angry enough to cry, to run back to the changing room and demand what the hell that was all about.

"You pitchers are so selfish," is all he's capable of saying without his voice shaking too obviously. 

They walk slowly down the hall and Jihoon decides, actually, he can't just leave like this. 

"Seokmin," he says suddenly. "Tell coach I’ll be out in a second." 

“I– “ 

Jihoon turns and walks back down the hall knocking on the changing room.

He must have already used up all his bad luck today, because it’s Soonyoung opening the door. 

“Kwon Soonyoung,” Jihoon says through his teeth. “You wanted to talk.”

Soonyoung has the decency to look embarrassed as he steps out of the changing room and closes the door behind him. 

"Yes?" Soonyoung asks innocently.

Seokmin left, so they're completely alone in the hallway now, only the muffled voices from inside the room filling the silence, and Jihoon doesn't care about being discrete.

“What did you want to talk about?"

"Um… It doesn’t matter." 

Jihoon's arms are still crossed, and he gives Soonyoung a long stare. "Oh? It doesn't?” 

"No." 

"Then maybe I'll say something." 

Soonyoung sighs, hanging his head, and leans on the wall. "Go ahead."

"Why are you treating me like this?" 

"Like what? You're right, I have a game to focus on." 

"No, this isn't you saying 'sorry I can't talk right now'! You're giving me the cold shoulder!" 

"Yeah?" Soonyoung meets his eyes. "Well, so are you." 

"I'm not!" 

Soonyoung looks angrier. "You barely answer me, you barely text me on your own at all, and you make no attempt to meet with me, either!"

"We're... _Busy_ !" Soonyoung is opening his mouth to say something and Jihoon cuts him off. "We are! There's not much else to it. There's really barely any time to spare and it's cold outside and there are so many things I need to take care of, Soonyoung! You know that! And it's annoying of you... It's rude of you, actually, to just ignore me like this after two months as if nothing from the last time we saw each other mattered! I also want to see you, you know?!"

Soonyoung considers him for a second. “You don't show it very well, you know?" 

"How am I supposed to show it?" 

"For once, give me a proper reply if you can't meet!" 

"I really couldn't. It was an intense week, this tournament is short and–" 

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. I know. But me texting in the afternoon and getting a reply at ten at night that you're in bed is..." 

"We have a lot of evening meetings, especially now that I'm captain, I... I really don't know how to excuse myself here. I was hoping you'd understand on your own."

Soonyoung looks guilty, then. "I do. I see how hard Wonwoo is working, and how hard my brother worked last year but... It's been two months like you said. I really wanted to see you."

"You're seeing me now! You wouldn't even look me in the eye!" 

"And you could've replied to me sooner!" 

Jihoon sighs. "Is that really important to you?" He asks finally.

Soonyoung seems surprised by the question, but he recovers quickly. "We have months before I see you again, so yes." 

Jihoon meets his eyes and holds the gaze for a moment. "Fine. I'll try better." Soonyoung is even more surprised by that and Jihoon frowns. "What's surprising?" 

"I... I don't know. That was easy." 

"No, it wasn't! That was really rude what you did earlier, you know?!" 

"I didn't mean to be _rude_ , I was hurt!" 

"Then we should talk about it! There can't be a good battery without good communication, you can follow my calls all you want but if I call for something you can't meet, if I won't show you my mitt, how are we going to take out the big hitters?" 

Soonyoung stares at him and then breaks into a smile. Before Jihoon can question him, he's being pulled close and hugged tightly against Soonyoung's warm chest. 

"That was a dumb metaphor, Jihoonie," his words land hotly against his neck and Jihoon tenses.

"Whatever..." Jihoon's fingers press into Soonyoung's shirt. "Just... Talk to me directly, pitchers are hard to deal with as it is."

"But then you'd call me selfish." 

"I already know you're selfish." 

Soonyoung laughs but before he can answer the door behind him opens and Jihoon drops his hand in fear, while Soonyoung lets go of him, slowly.

"You have to get changed!" It's Wonwoo and Jihoon's heart stutters as Soonyoung leans away, still watching Jihoon. 

"Can I see you tonight?" He asks, ignoring Wonwoo who mutters something resembling a curse at the door.

"I think we're leaving in the afternoon. If I can't, it's not because I don't want to. But I'll let you know."

Soonyoung smiles. "I guess that's all I wanted to hear. Sorry I was rude earlier. I really did miss you."

Jihoon nods and Wonwoo barks out his name again. Soonyoung rolls his eyes and gives Jihoon a smile, before pecking him quickly on the cheek. Jihoon knows his face is still burning minutes after, when he's walking to his bus, too lost in his head to care if his coach is scolding him for taking so long.

Damn it, he really missed him, too. 

⚾

They don't see each other in the end. Jihoon's team leaves that afternoon just as he said and, by the time Soonyoung can use his phone again, they're halfway to Daegu. 

_I could visit you during break?_

_we can try_

It's not that they don't try, but things don't work out the way they want to when they're nearly professional athletes with minimal free time to travel around South Korea to see each other. Plus... Well, it's not like they're in any official relationship either to be making cross-country trips over the weekend. It feels... Too much. At least to Jihoon and, although Soonyoung does try, the few times they plan around a weekend, a practice game will come up, or a make-up test, or a scouting interview. It just never happens. 

In April, there’s the first Seoul tournament and the week before Soonyoung writes Jihoon a long message saying he will do anything to see him, they have to see each other, he insists, if Jihoon wants him to write an email to his coach he'll do it. 

_we are staying in the same hotel as last year, we can meet on the first day_

_YES_

"I don't know how I feel about you fraternizing with the opposite team, hyung," Seokmin tells him, catching Jihoon smiling down at his phone during dinner.

"Not fraternizing. We're just friends." 

"You don't give him information, right?" 

"I want to win, you know?" 

"Good. But to win, maybe it would be useful to steal some info." 

Jihoon laughs, nudging him lightly, as Jun plops into the chair opposite him, peeling a banana.

"I agree with him," Jun says. "Catch his pitches, get some info. Metaphorically or not," he bites into his banana and winks. 

Jihoon ignores him, he ignores most of the comments his team throws at him about Soonyoung. Most of all... He doesn't know how to respond to them, when he himself doesn't know what Soonyoung is to him yet. 

Sure they're probably somewhere past being just friends, but are they _really_ more than that…? Can Jihoon think of Soonyoung as his boyfriend, or is he just a guy he kissed once and might kiss again? 

Sometimes he’s unsure if Soonyoung will even want to kiss him after nearly half a year. That's a concern, too. Maybe he's been kissing other catchers. Other non-catchers. Others. 

He doesn't like those thoughts, but they plague him a little obnoxiously in the days leading up to their meeting. They arrive in Seoul the evening before the tournament, and Jihoon barely sleeps at all. Same as last time.

"You good, captain?" Seungkwan asks, sitting next to him on the bus as always.

"Bad sleep," Jihoon mutters, looking down at some stats about their first opponents. It's an up-and-coming team from Incheon, not anything too scary, but their pitcher is a tricky southpaw that might be hard to hit off.

"You should rest, we looked over the team enough last night." 

"It's only a ten minute ride." 

"All rest counts, hyung." 

Jihoon smiles, but waves it off. 

He doesn't have time to get to the end of the page before they roll up to the stadium and he checks his phone as he walks off the bus. There are no notifications.

From the lack of sleep, he feels even more nauseous. 

It's a dumb feeling really, especially when their last meeting was all about _communicating_ and now Jihoon is letting nerves eat him alive because he is the one who doesn’t know how to talk about how he feels.

Ugh, he closes his eyes as he walks and is surprised by Seokmin's strong arm falling across his shoulders. 

"You good, hyung?" 

"Peachy." 

"Good. I really don't want to lose any games." 

"We won't."

"You're sounding more and more like a captain lately, hyung," Seokmin meets his eyes with a wink and Jihoon can’t help but smile at him. 

At their designated place in the stadium, they're organized to wait for the opening ceremony and Jihoon checks his phone. Nothing. Again. Then he's nudged by Jun and he looks up to see Soonyoung coming up to their area. 

He looks taller, which is unnerving after just a few months apart. He's wearing his orange cap and when he comes closer, Jihoon sees there are small hoops in his ears. Huh... That's also new. 

"Hi," Soonyoung grins, oblivious that Jihoon’s whole team is watching, as well as the teams next to them. "Can I steal your captain away for a moment?" He asks Jihoon's coach and Jihoon feels his face warm quickly, remembering Soonyoung's promise of a letter. 

"Ceremony starts in five minutes, make it quick," the coach tells Jihoon and with that he's dismissed.

Jihoon gives Jun an apologetic glance and another one to his pitchers, and goes over to Soonyoung who waits slightly to the side.

"Hey," Soonyoung says again. Everyone can see them, but they're not close enough to hear. Still, it feels like their whole section has quieted down just to catch every word they're saying. 

"You didn't have to come say hi," Jihoon has his back to their audience and doesn't like how everyone can see the gentle way Soonyoung smiles at him. 

"Well, you were right last time. We didn't really reunite in the best way." 

"But this is... Too public." 

"I'm just saying hi," Soonyoung blinks innocently. "What were you hoping for at our reunion?" 

Jihoon nudges him and Soonyoung grins. 

"I'm happy to see you." 

It feels like a whole baseball is stuck in his throat, maybe even three of them in a stack. 

"Me too," he says, meeting his eyes, and Soonyoung's grin is too cute for words. Jihoon gets distracted by it and when Soonyoung clears his throat Jihoon's eyes snap back to his eyes. 

"Sorry–" 

"Tonight. I'll see you tonight?"

Jihoon nods too quickly and Soonyoung tucks his lips betwen hs teeth before letting them out of his mouth. How are his lips that thick even... Is that natural?!

"Good luck today,” Jihoon says, hoping he sounds normal.

"Yeah, yeah, you too." Soonyoung nods and before he can leave, Jihoon grabs his forearm. "Thanks for saying hi, Soonyoung." 

"Of course," he grins. "Only the best for my Jihoonie." 

Jihoon glares, which only makes Soonyoung grin wider. When Jihoon returns to his team, they're staring at him. 

"You are _so_ fraternizing," Jun shakes his head. 

Jihoon smiles and shrugs. Even if he is, it shouldn’t matter, as long as he keeps playing his best.

⚾

Their game is called in the fifth inning after their twelfth run. To celebrate, their coach takes the team out to lunch and congratulates them on the successful beginning to their new season. Their new first years especially are such good hitters, particularly this one kid, Chan, who has a swing that's way too strong for a fifteen year old. 

Soonyoung also wins his game and offers to pick Jihoon up from the hotel around eight, after they're both done with team meetings and all the proper cool downs. This time, Jihoon agrees easily. 

It's still cold this early in April and it's all very reminiscent of their first “date” last year, Soonyoung rosy-cheeked and smiling brightly at him when Jihoon leaves the hotel lobby. 

"We first went out like this, right? Last year." 

Jihoon nods, chin deep in his scarf as they walk along a park to some ramen place Soonyoung likes in the area. Luckily this time it's just them two. 

"Actually it's almost weird that it's only been a year," Soonyoung goes on, giving him a small smile. "How'd your game go?" 

"It was good," Jihoon returns the smile and elbows him lightly. "But we won't be talking about that or I'll think you're only seeing me to scout information." 

"I'm just making conversation," Soonyoung's expression is innocent and he turns the corner, opening a large door to a small izakaya-looking place. 

They're seated in the corner and order two pork ramens and some steamed veggie gyozas. It's probably not a good idea to eat food like this while competing, but Jihoon is cold and all he wants is something warm and filling. 

They talk mostly about other teams in the tournament. If all goes well, they should be playing each other in the semi-finals and they both avoid mentioning that possibility, discussing the teams they'll be playing before that. 

It's slightly after nine when they pay for dinner – they split it – and make their way back towards Jihoon's hotel early since they both have games the next day. 

"Should we make another bet this year?" 

"What kind of bet?" 

“Like for our game." 

"First we need to win the games beforehand." 

"Are you not confident in your team?" Soonyoung teases and Jihoon rolls his eyes.

"Confidence, I've got. But I don't like thinking ahead like this. Anything could happen." 

"Hmmm. A good point, spoken like a true catcher. Can't call the shots unless all the information is on the table, right?" 

_Exactly_ , Jihoon thinks. Which is also why... 

"Speaking of known information," Jihoon says quietly, stopping where they are near the park entrance. He doesn't want to have this conversation outside the hotel. "I'm a little confused... About what we are doing here." 

Soonyoung frowns. "What do you mean?" 

"What kind of shots do I call between us?" 

Soonyoung's frown tilts upwards. "What do you mean?" He repeats. 

God, he's really going to make him spell it out, isn't he?!

"I mean," Jihoon licks his lips and regrets it because it's _cold_ and they dry almost instantly. 

"What are we doing?" He gestures between them. "Like, are we just getting dinner or... You know..." 

Soonyoung's smile is innocent and patient. "No, no. Please, explain what you mean." 

Jihoon stares at him. "Are you making fun of me?" 

"Making fun? No way," he's grinning wide now. "But you know, I thought you're a _genius_ catcher. These game-callings are kind of lame." 

"Because this isn't a game and I don't know what to call for here!" 

"Right, right," Soonyoung laughs, eyes warm. "I don't know, Jihoonie. What do you want for us to be doing?" Jihoon stands silently, not knowing how to go about this and Soonyoung sniffs sharply and crap it's _cold_ outside, they should move –

"I don't know what you think is going on,” Soonyoung says first, answering his own question. “But I like you, so I was kind of thinking we are like... Together, you know? As two people who like each other..." Although Soonyoung seemed confident a moment ago, he's all red-cheeked now and not really making eye-contact and Jihoon finds it kind of cute that he’s not the only one who is a little lost. 

"Oh." 

"Yeah," Soonyoung looks up at him.

"That's okay by me." 

Soonyoung rolls his eyes with a laugh. "Well, great." 

Jihoon nods one more time and then tilts his head before he continues walking to the hotel. He makes a few steps before realizing Soonyoung isn’t following him and turns, stretching out his hand. 

"Are you coming?" 

Soonyoung's expression is a mix of surprise and childish joy. He jogs up and grabs Jihoon’s hand and Jihoon can't believe he even did that in the first place.

It's still a bit of a weird feeling, but it's not all too bad, really. Jihoon is stuck between wondering if he even knows Soonyoung well enough to justify this kind of – dating – that they're doing but, at the same, you don't need to know the person you're dating too well right away anyway. And also... Well, they met for the first time five years ago! It’s not like they’re _strangers_.

"What are you thinking about?" Soonyoung asks, when they stop outside the hotel. 

"I think let's stop with the baseball metaphors. I really don't know how the calling here works," Jihoon says, watching their fingers woven together and then lets go, meeting Soonyoung's eyes. 

"I'm not any more knowledgeable at this either, you know? All my life has been just baseball and here's you... Who is also kind of baseball and also just someone I really like. So it's okay, there's really no pressure to know exactly what we’re doing right away. I just kind of want to spend as much time with you as I can, that's all." 

How sweet, Jihoon thinks, smiling. He wants to kiss him but there are things that need a little bit more time to get used to. 

"Good luck on your game," he says instead. 

"I won't need _luck_ ," Soonyoung points out, but nods. "You have a good one, too." 

"I will." 

There is a pause, like something is missing, but Soonyoung regretfully lets go and waves as he hurries down the street. 

Up in the room, Jun is watching something on his phone and Jihoon says a small hi, sitting on his bed. 

"Damn." 

"What?" 

"Did you just make out for two hours?" 

Jihoon knows he's flushing immediately. "No!"

"Your lips are all red!" 

"It's freezing outside!" 

Jun's eyes squint and he nods. "Okay yeah, they're just crazy dry." Jihoon is mortified. "I have some lip balm in my toiletry bag." 

"No thanks!" 

"Don't be so stubborn, damn! Your lips will start bleeding and then you're _definitely_ not going to get kissed." 

Jihoon swallows, ignoring that, but when he goes to the bathroom to wash his face and brush his teeth, he finds the lip balm tub and dabs some of it on his lips. When he returns, his lips are shiny and as soon as Jun gives him a thumbs up, he shuts off the lights. 

⚾

They're successful in their next game, putting them through to the semi-finals. Soonyoung's team makes it too. The day before their match, Seokmin and Seungkwan confiscate his phone and Jihoon finds it a little funny that they're going this far to make sure he won't contact Soonyoung before their game. 

"I wouldn't tell him anything!" 

"Good for you, hyung," Seungkwan says. "But we're just making sure." 

In the end, the game is tough and kind of brutal. Tough because Soonyoung has learned a new pitch they had no idea about. It's a mix of a knuckle ball and a slider, it floats shakily and slides at a strange sharp curve right by the batter's knees. Looks easy, but is impossible to hit. The first time Jihoon sees it at bat it throws him off so hard, he can't hit anything else. 

"What the hell was that?" Seokmin asks when Jihoon returns to the dugout and takes off his helmet, shaking his head.

"No clue," he says honestly, watching Chan grin in the batting box. He hits on his third try, one of Soonyoung's normal fastballs and it flies high, falling right into Mingyu’s mitt in left field.

"It's not impossible to hit off him!" Chan grins, coming back. "He's a great pitcher." 

"Oh yeah?" Seokmin punches his own mitt and glares at Soonyoung throwing his arm around Wonwoo as they walk back to their dugout. "No way I'm losing in a pitcher battle!" 

They do lose, unfortunately. Only by one run in the last inning. That is the brutality of it. Their loss from Soonyoung's impossible to hit pitches despite the Tiger's mediocre batting lineup, and the way Seokmin glares at Jihoon like he'll never forgive him for being unable to hit any of them. 

When they shake hands, Soonyoung's smile is friendly and open, but Jihoon can't find it in himself to smile back, which has the light rapidly fading from the pitcher’s eyes. 

"Jihoon–?" 

Jihoon is pulled away by his team before he can respond, and it's not like there is much to say in front of all their teammates. 

In the changing room, he texts Soonyoung a quick _talk later_ and when Soonyoung sends back a heart things feel okay despite the bitter loss. 

_wanna meet tonight?_ He receives the text in the afternoon, but Seokmin won't talk to him, so Jihoon texts back, _i dont think thats a good idea._

_is your pitcher mad? lol_

_not lol!! and yeah i think so_

_sorry. im just that good!_

_you really were_

Soonyoung doesn't reply right away but the message is on read for a while.

_damn it i rlly want to see you!!!!_

Jihoon laughs discretly to himself and puts away his phone, spending the rest of the evening going over their stats in meetings, first with the whole team and the coaches, and then with just the pitchers. The atmosphere is cold and Jihoon has a permanent shiver running up and down his spine for the duration of it. The only person who doesn’t glare at all is Chan, but that's mostly because he actually had fun that game, proud that he was actually able to hit one of Soonyoung's amazing pitches even if he didn't get a run.

When all the meetings are done, Jihoon stays behind to go over some game notes, but really, he's just avoiding everyone. He's alone only for a moment, before Jun comes back and stands quietly on the other side of the table.

"Are you here to lecture me?" Jihoon asks, without looking up.

"Do you need lecturing?" 

Jihoon meets his eyes and closes the score book. 

"I didn't purposefully lose the game today." 

"I know." 

"So why is everyone looking at me like I did?!" 

"Because everyone wants to blame _something_ , and you're silent. Aren't you the captain? Say some encouraging words, or it really looks like you lost the game to make your boyfriend happy." 

Jihoon is too annoyed to say anything and when his phone vibrates against the table, screen lighting up with a new text from Soonyoung. Jihoon feels like crap. 

By the time he looks away, Jun has left and Jihoon sighs into his hands before looking over at the text. 

_are you free?_

_why?_

_im outside_

Jesus. Still, Jihoon grabs the windbreaker that's wrapped around his chair and takes the elevator down to the lobby, finding Soonyoung right outside of the hotel, cap a dark blue as if the lack of orange will make him less recognizable. When Jihoon comes up to him, they round the nearby corner into a quiet alley. 

"What are you doing here?" 

"You're probably going to leave tomorrow morning, right?" Jihoon sighs and nods. "I just wanted to say bye." 

"There's another tournament next month." 

"Still." 

Jihoon smiles and tucks his head down, leaning forward and he's glad Soonyoung doesn't need any words, circling his arms around him and pulling him close. 

"My team thinks I lost on purpose today." 

"Hmm. Really? Why?" 

"To make you happy." 

"Well, I _am_ happy. But part of why I fell in love with your game calling is because you're the only one who ever knew how to hit off me," Soonyoung hugs him tighter and Jihoon swallows when his heart skips at " _fell in love_ ". "But you know?" Soonyoung pushes him slightly away to meet his eyes. "I _am_ one of the best pitchers in South Korea, right now. What's so shocking about being struck out by me? It just means I'm as awesome as they say!" 

Jihoon laughs. "Sure, sure." There's a quiet moment between them and Jihoon feels shit enough that he just wants… “Hey, Soonyoung. You ever gonna kiss me again?”

“I… I wasn’t sure…”

“Sure about what? Are you really only waiting for me to call the shots here?” He mutters and Soonyoung smiles crookedly, endearingly awkward. 

“You know that’s not true, the first time I’m the one who–”

Jihoon sighs loudly, cutting him off and leans up on his toes, happy when Soonyoung meets him halfway. It feels good to kiss him again, it really does. Soonyoung is warm and gentle and Jihoon's sleeves rustle when he reaches up to pull him closer. 

“Happy?” 

“Extremely,” Jihoon grins. 

"I'll see you next month?" 

"Yeah," Jihoon whispers, fingers running along Soonyoung's warm neck. "You better win, that's the least you could do. I'll only accept losing to the best team this tournament."

"Jihoonie, that's no good! You should never accept losing!" 

Jihoon startles and laughs. "Well, that's true," he admits. Maybe Jun had a point scolding him a little. 

They say their quick goodbyes and, by the time Jihoon gets to the cafeteria where their team eats dinner, most of the players are still there. 

"The Tigers are a stupid team, you know?" He says suddenly, knowing full-well his ears are red from the sudden public speaking. "The important tournament is the Presidential cup, and Soonyoung showed us his best pitch enough times that we know it by heart now. So don't look upset. Next time when we play against them, I'll hit the ball so far I'll send the Tigers home crying!" 

He meets Jun's eyes first, who stares at him with a wide smile before bursting out laughing, followed by the rest of the team. 

"You think you're cool or something?" 

"We saw how you couldn't hit anything today. Less talking, more hitting, captain!" 

"Big words, small actions! But we'll be waiting, hyung!" 

Jihoon looks at the floor as he goes over and gets some rice and meat from the managers who smile kindly at him. When he sits across from Seokmin and Seungkwan, they’re watching him with narrowed eyes. 

"Was that a promise, captain?" Seokmin asks and Jihoon swallows. 

"Definitely. Trust me, nobody hates losing to Soonyoung more than me." 

"That's not something to be proud of, hyung," Seungkwan comments but then gives him a smile. "But that was very mature of you! Maybe you'll finally be a true captain soon!" 

Jihoon laughs and starts eating. Later, when Jun gives him a thumbs up across the room, Jihoon feels lighter and, when he texts Soonyoung good luck for his next game, he means it, too.

⚾

The second Seoul tournament falls at the end of May due to a small typhoon in the middle of the month. Jihoon talks to Soonyoung quite frequently throughout the month they’re apart and, although his team doesn't seem annoyed with him over it, there is still some tension between Jihoon and his pitchers that isn't pleasant, especially considering Soonyoung's team ended up winning that last tournament.

This time both Soonyoung and Jihoon only have games on the third day of the tournament so they make plans to meet the day of the ceremony. When Jihoon is leaving his room because Soonyoung is already downstairs, Seokmin catches him.

"Seokmin," Jihoon greets, nearly pressed against his door.

"Are you going to meet with Soonyoung?"

There's no real point in lying about it. "Yes."

"I'm coming."

"...Why?"

"To make sure you're not giving away information."

"I thought we already–"

"Yeah, and your dedication is super admirable! But maybe I don't trust _him_."

Jihoon swallows and doesn't really see a way he can get out of this, not with Seokmin's determination and crossed arms and pinning stare.

"Fine, you can come," he gives up a little too easily. "We're just getting dinner–"

"Great, I haven't eaten yet."

He starts walking down the hall when another door opens and it's Seungkwan peeking out.

"Where are you guys going?"

Fucking hell...

"Jihoon-hyung is going to dinner with Soonyoung, so I'm going to make sure he isn't giving away information."

"Oh. I'm definitely coming then."

"I can handle it on my own!"

"Who's going to handle _you_?"

The whole situation is borderline ridiculous and Jihoon presses his fingers against his forehead.

"Can we go? It's just dinner, we don't even talk about baseball–"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever, hyung,” Seungkwan cuts him off. “Let me just grab my wallet."

Outside, Jihoon nearly laughs when he sees Soonyoung with Wonwoo and Mingyu with him.

"Babysitters?" He asks, instead of a hello.

"They think we're meeting to exchange information," Soonyoung seems on edge over it and says the next thing while glaring at Wonwoo. "People can talk about things other than baseball!"

"I have yet to see that from you," Wonwoo sighs and then smiles at Jihoon. "It's nice to see you."

"Yeah, same," Jihoon smiles back because all of this is so... Silly. "This is–"

"I'm Lee Seokmin! And no, Jihoon and I aren't related other than through our impeccable battery!" He says that glaring right at Soonyoung who narrows his eyes, taking Seokmin way too seriously.

"I'm Boo Seungkwan," Seungkwan says. "I'm actually a big fan of yours!" He tells Soonyoung, and it's the right thing to say, because Soonyoung visibly relaxes.

"Right, I remember. Thanks.”

Seokmin scoffs and Seungkwan's eyes sparkle, while Jihoon looks over at Wonwoo, both of them trying not to laugh.

"Um, I'm Kim Mingyu. I actually used to play with Jihoon in middle school before he moved."

"Don't remind me," Soonyoung mutters. "I can't believe I'm the only one here who never actually played with you," he glares at Jihoon and Jihoon only grins cheekily at him. Soonyoung looks away quickly with a light flush.

 _Heh,_ Jihoon thinks, loving the way Soonyoung gets affected so quickly. _Too easy._

Wonwoo clears his throat and Jihoon realizes his pitchers are staring angrily at him.

"So, where are we going?" Jihoon asks quickly, and they all take five minutes to decide to go to the same all you can eat place as last year.

The dinner starts off tense, especially when nobody wants to talk about baseball, but Seungkwan is charismatic and smart, managing to steer the conversation topic to a safe zone, discussing what the third years are doing – Joshua and Seungcheol are continuing with baseball professionally, Joshua in the States and Seungcheol in Japan. Meanwhile, Jeonghan is studying medicine in Seoul to possibly become a physiotherapist. Seokmin tells the table about it and how Jeonghan will be coming to their games, and Jihoon is happy to see that he seems to have come more to terms with not playing with him again, though he still sounds a little sad.

When Wonwoo mentions his own plans for next year, mostly focusing on attending college, Soonyoung and Jihoon say nothing.

"There are scouts at our school every weekend! It's insane," Seungkwan says when Jihoon is asked about what he wants to do. 

"Jihoon-hyung must have had over ten offers by now."

Jihoon doesn't look up, eating quietly. It's kind of true. He doesn’t have _ten_ solid offers, but there have been a lot, and some good scholarships, too.

"What about you?" Seokmin asks Soonyoung, voice clearly competitive.

Soonyoung grins. "What do you think?"

"Show off."

"I didn't even say anything!"

"Your face says it all! In every magazine!" Soonyoung laughs and Seokmin points with his chopsticks. "Next year, I'm taking over that position, just you wait."

"You'll have to beat this guy, he already has modeling offers," Soonyoung pats Mingyu's back and Mingyu blushes but doesn't deny it.

"Your catcher, too, right?" Seungkwan pipes up.

"Vernon is super popular!” Soonyoung agrees. “People keep thinking he's an American exchange student though and it drives him crazy, so he refuses to talk to reporters."

"It's not like your battery is unpopular, either," Wonwoo adds, chin leaning in the palm of his hand. "The Ice Prince and his Sunshine Pitcher."

Jihoon nearly gags. "That headline was really too much," he admits and Wonwoo laughs while Seokmin grins happily.

"I thought it was a good level of dramatic. Flare is good! Gets the crowd going."

Soonyoung's brows rise and he nods, approvingly. "Maybe I _do_ like you," he says finally and, for once, the small layer of tension between them lifts.

By the time they pay, it's nearing nine and, since they have the next day off, they all go to a noraebong until it's nearly eleven and the other three have to get back to the dorms before lights out.

It was fun, the whole ordeal, but also unnerving. Jihoon has had zero time alone with Soonyoung the whole evening. Every time they tried, someone would tag along, even if it was just to the bathroom. Although it makes Jihoon slightly antsy, Soonyoung is clearly more frustrated about it.

When they get to the hotel, he tries to take Jihoon to the side but Wonwoo crosses his arms, stepping closer.

"Seriously? Can we not have two minutes alone?"

"I don't care what you guys do together next week, but not during the tournament."

"What the hell am I going to tell him? My whole pitching repertoire? What does it even matter?! Everyone is going to find out after the first–"

"Soonyoung. You're on a team! Respect that," Wonwoo is glaring and Soonyoung glares back.

"It's fine, Soonyoung, we can just–"

"It's not fine, actually," he snaps, without looking at Jihoon. "Frankly, it's not very encouraging that the team captain won't trust their ace."

"You can barely strike him out and he's a clean-up on the opposite team, of course–!" Wonwoo stops himself and sighs, schooling himself in front of the rest. "Let's just go."

Soonyoung's jaw is clenched in a way that clearly shows how much he's holding back.

"Soonyoung–" Jihoon tries and Soonyoung lets out a sigh, finally meeting Jihoon's eyes.

"I'm sorry," he says quietly.

"It's fine, I had a good time tonight."

That seems to relax Soonyoung a little.

"Me too."

Jihoon smiles. "Good. And don't worry, I don't think my pitchers would be too happy if we went off to talk somewhere, either."

"He's right!" Seokmin says and Jihoon's smile turns a little more crooked. This is really too awkward.

Soonyoung looks at him for a long minute and Jihoon opens his mouth, just slightly.

"I'll see you–"

Before he can finish Soonyoung pulls him in for a hug and buries his head into his neck. Jihoon's hands hang awkwardly by his side and before he can figure out what to do with them, Soonyoung leaves one warm kiss on the side of his neck where nobody can see, and pulls away.

"It was nice seeing you, seriously."

"Y-yeah... Let's see each other on the field next."

"Yes!"

He smiles then, a lot brighter than before, and goes over to a very unhappy Wonwoo who has the decency to at least give Jihoon a polite wave goodbye. Mingyu smiles kindly at him.

When Jihoon rejoins his pitchers, they're staring at him weirdly.

"Are you two really just friends or–"

"Like you said, he's a pitcher on the opposing team. What could we possibly be?"

Neither of them seem to like that explanation, but Jihoon walks ahead of them into the hotel and doesn't let them ask anything else. His neck burns pleasantly where Soonyoung's lips had kissed his skin.

⚾

Jihoon's first game is won easily. When he gets out of the hotel shower a few hours later, though, he finds Jun frowning at his phone.

"The Tigers lost by 7 runs."

Jihoon freezes.

"Who were they playing against?"

"Some Ulsan team I never heard of."

"Oh."

Weird. Jihoon sits on his own bed and checks his phone. There aren't any new messages, and he slides it into his pocket, before following Jun to their team meeting.

They don't discuss the Hana Tigers loss, of course, focusing on their own game and the plan for the next one, but Jihoon is very aware that his pitchers are dying to talk to him about it.

"I know nothing," he says as soon as they're dismissed and Seokmin and Seungkwan start to crowd him.

"You're lying, hyung!"

"I'm not! We haven't even spoken since last night."

"Who's we?" Chan asks and Jihoon sighs.

"Kwon Soonyoung! Jihoon’s real chummy with him!" Seokmin says too loudly, so that some team-members who haven't left the room yet turn around.

"Are we still on about that? We're just friends! And what does it matter anyway? They lost royally, sure, but it doesn't concern our own motivations in this tournament."

"I wonder what happened..." Chan says and Jun lets out a loud _woah_ when he sees something on his phone.

"I have a friend who was at the game, he says they lost two runs in the first inning, two in the second, and one in third."

"Who was pitching?" Seokmin asks.

“Soonyoung,” Jun frowns. “Apparently there was nearly a fight right on the mound before he was switched with Mingyu. Mingyu did well, but he was clearly tired by the ninth inning and lost another two runs. I guess without Seungcheol, they really can't hit so well yet, even against a mediocre pitcher. Especially when their ace fucks up like that, really brings a team down.”

Jihoon sits quietly, while the rest discuss what they think happened with Soonyoung. Jihoon is also wondering just that, but tugging on the possibilities feels scary.

"I guess that's a good thing, no?" Chan asks. "We don't have to worry about a strong team later in the games."

"Strong teams are what's fun about baseball!" Seokmin defends and Jihoon is surprised to see that he actually looks a little upset about this. "Maybe the food at that place got him sick..."

"Maybe Jihoon actually managed to distract him," Jun giggles but Jihoon doesn't laugh at all.

"I wouldn't do that," his voice is final enough that even Jun's smile wavers. Then he gets up and excuses himself from the room, checking his phone again. There's nothing and when he opens his chat with Soonyoung the last text is the one Jihoon sent that morning, wishing him luck, that Soonyoung never replied to.

Weird. And, frankly, annoying!

Jihoon shuts his phone and leaves it aside.

⚾

Jihoon's team does fantastically. They win all their games easily and do amazingly in the finals against another team from Seoul. The interviews focus a lot on Jihoon this time. Jeonghan was already well known from their academy and, with Jihoon being another genius catcher, captain, _and_ clean-up, he's a good replacement for the reporters to focus on.

Overall, the tournament is a breeze. It just sucks that something sharp and uncomfortable settles in his ribs when he remembers what happened with the Tigers. Jihoon doesn't let himself think about it too much, spending the extra night they have at the hotel eating a fancy buffet with his team. Jeonghan joins them for the meal, having been at their game, and laughs at the coaches getting drunk on soju at a nearby table.

“I think you’re doing a great job as captain,” Jeonghan tells him quietly when he asks Jihoon to accompany him to the bathroom. 

“Thanks. It was… Hard at first. They didn’t really trust me.” 

“Well that’s because you’re sucking face with a rival pitcher in your free time~”

“Am _not_.”

“But you’re seeing him right?” 

Jihoon actually hasn’t spoken to Soonyoung in days, so he really doesn’t want to talk about this right now.

“Is this why you wanted me to come with you?” 

“No, I just wanted to see how you’re doing.” 

“Well, I’m just fine.”

“Plans for next year?”

“Nothing solid, but I definitely want to go pro eventually.” 

“Mhmm…” Jeonghan nods.

“How’s university?” 

“I like it, and it’s interesting, too. Plus it’s nice to finally sleep in since most of my classes are in the afternoon, I feel like my body is catching up on years of rest.”

“You need to stop pretending like you’re some old man, hyung.”

Jeonghan laughs, then grows a little more serious. “Is Seokmin okay?” 

The question hits Jihoon, like a cold splash to the face, and he smiles, feeling suddenly gentle.

“Yeah, he was really upset at first, but he’s getting better every day. He’s looking ahead. It’s really a privilege to catch for a guy like that. He _wants_ to improve and he craves the feeling of it, listening to every piece of advice.” 

“He really appreciates what you do for him, right?” Jeonghan smiles. 

“Immensely,” Jihoon nods. “But don’t worry, he still loves you the most, hyung.” 

Jeonghan actually rolls his eyes. “Yeah, yeah.” 

When he’s in the bathroom, Jihoon’s phone vibrates in his pocket and he takes it out, expecting it to be a reply from his parents, but instead he sees a text from Soonyoung.

_congrats_

Jihoon wills himself not to be annoyed and texts back a polite, _thanks_.

_can we talk? or are you busy?_

_i can call_

_i'm downstairs actually_

_what if I'm not in Seoul anymore?_

_then i'll leave_

Jihoon sighs.

_i'll be down in two min_

When Jeonghan comes out of the bathroom, the look on Jihoon’s face must be obvious because he pats his head. 

“I’ll make up an excuse, go make up with your boyfriend.”

“We aren’t fighting!” 

Jeonghan raises a brow. “Oh? But he _is_ your boyfriend?”

Before Jihoon can reply, Jeonghan is already gone. 

_Damn it,_ Jihoon thinks. But decides that isn’t the biggest of his worries right now as he sneaks out to the elevators and finds Soonyoung leaning against the tree in front of the hotel entrance.

"No babysitters this time," Jihoon jokes and Soonyoung nods, though he doesn't look too happy which is just a little irritating. "Hey, Soonyoung. I don't mean to be rude, but you don't talk to me for days, and I'm kind of celebrating here so–"

Soonyoung shakes his head. "Sorry. You're right. Congrats. I watched the game, you guys did amazingly. Seokmin has really improved but Vernon said your calls are incredible, too, and the way you got out those two guys from second base twice in a row was really amazing." He seems sincere and Jihoon feels bad he was being an asshole.

"Thanks." Soonyoung nods, and looks down onto the ground again and Jihoon doesn't know how to approach this. "What happened?" He asks finally.

Soonyoung's lips purse when he swallows. "I got pissed at Wonwoo and I just... I was so mad I really wanted to show him what it's like if I truly play like I’m _distracted_ or whatever."

"At the expense of your team."

"I'm not proud of it! But I was angry. And I felt betrayed and– Once i started pitching poorly, it gave the other team momentum and then I was curious to see how long they will keep me on the mound and... Well, it turns out they really fucking trust the ace!" He's tearing up rapidly and Jihoon is severely unsure what to do.

"Was your fight about me?" Jihoon asks and Soonyoung lets out a frustrated sigh.

"Not entirely... He just thought I was getting distracted by you."

"Were you?"

Soonyoung meets his eyes. "I don't know! So what if I was?! Doesn't mean I was playing any less good on the regular? I'm still the ace of that team, I can strike anyone out if I want, I can take the team to victory if I want, I can make them lose if I want, too!"

Jihoon doesn't like hearing that and Soonyoung realizes what he's saying before Jihoon has time to comment on it and he sighs, leaning his head onto the tree behind him.

"I care about my team," he says finally, meeting his eyes. "I care about winning. But when my best friend, my _captain,_ doesn't trust me... Of course, I'll get mad!"

"And losing was the best way to deal with that?" Soonyoung doesn't say anything. "If Wonwoo thinks you're distracted, shouldn't you prove to him you're not by _winning._ How is the loss going to help your point?"

"By making him feel worse," he says quietly and they both know how stupid and wrong that is.

"And what about your team?"

"Yeah, yeah. I know I fucked up! My coach has me off pitching for two weeks to go to physical therapy because Wonwoo is too nice to tell him that I threw a whole tournament because of an argument over the guy I’m dating."

Jihoon bristles slightly at that statement, but stays calm.

"If I'm a distraction–"

"Don't say it."

"You don't know what I was going to say."

Soonyoung rolls his eyes. "You were going to be all nice and dramatic – we don't have to meet anymore – but I don't want that! I like you, Jihoon," he tells him earnestly. "I like you as a person, as _you_ , without baseball, _that's_ what Wonwoo isn't understanding!"

"I thought you liked me because you wanted me to catch for you, you know as partners~" Jihoon teases, just a little, heart hammering in his chest.

"Of course that too! But right now, I can't admit that, can I?!"

Jihoon laughs, too aware that they're right by the hotel entrance in the middle of the street. "Be quiet. I get it, my team still hesitates to leave me alone because they're scared I'll run off and tell you about Seokmin's exact pitch angle or something," he smiles and Soonyoung seems to calm. "But, you know, if it helps our teams, then keeping whatever this is on the down low could be a good idea... Just until the tournaments are over."

"There's only two more left."

"That's not many."

"Yeah, but it's six months!"

"We can still talk. I just meant, maybe not make our friendship too obvious."

"Friendship," Soonyoung repeats, deadpan, and Jihoon flushes.

"Even if we aren't a distraction to each other, we are to our teams."

"Maybe our teams should be respectful of us."

"You threw a game. Maybe you should be respectful to your team, too, Soonyoung."

Soonyoung's mouth flattens and Jihoon gives him a small smile.

"Sorry."

"It's fine. I appreciate the sour medicine." Jihoon laughs and Soonyoung sighs. "You know, Jihoon, it really pissed me off, too, that Wonwoo kept thinking you're using me or something, or that your team thinks I'm using you. Ever since the first time I met you, all I wanted to do is throw to your mitt and even now that's... That's what keeps me looking forward. A year, two years, ten years down the line, what is it going to be like to stand on the mound, in front of hundreds of people, and throw to _you_. Is it so bad that I have thoughts like that? When I imagine a future in baseball and I see myself playing my favorite sport, there is you standing in front of me, and when I think of leaving the field and going home, you’re there, too."

Jihoon's heart goes through a million different tempos, quickens, and slows, and nearly completely stills. "I think it's a little crazy how sure you are."

"Is it... Sometimes I wonder about it as well. I thought maybe it's just infatuation, but every time I see you, the idea only gets more and more vivid. So, yeah, we can pretend we don't know each other in the next two tournaments or whatever, but after that... After that I'm going to ask you to catch for me again and again, to be my partner for real, and I'll mean it even more!"

"You're so sure..." Jihoon is nervous, but he's smiling. "There are many amazing catchers out there."

"I don't care about others! And you know, I read your interviews too. They call you a genius, bravest catcher on the field right now and I _know_ you Jihoon. I met you time and time again and you don't disappoint, ever! Of course I'll only want to play with you more, you don't even know how jealous I am that I haven’t been able to yet!"

Jihoon laughs, licking his lips. "Then don't disappoint me either, okay? Since I'm such a genius catcher, I'll only want to play with a pitcher who knows how to meet my calls and play for the team."

Soonyoung's eyes shine immediately. "I do!"

"Then prove it to your team as well."

"I will!" He promises and, when Jihoon grins, he smiles back. "Maybe it's a good thing your team wouldn't leave me alone with you, now you got me all motivated."

"I guess we'll have to see about that."

They look at each other, laughing a little, and Soonyoung sighs. "Ugh, Jihoon. I really want to kiss you."

"We'll have to wait on that."

"Until November?!"

Jihoon laughs and shrugs. He swallows, looking a little nervously around, and maybe it's years of experience as a catcher, but taking in his surroundings in a matter of a split-second and seeing nobody in their vicinity, he does take the leap, leaning up to give him a quick kiss.

"That's all you get."

Soonyoung stares wide-eyed at him and only snaps out of it when Jihoon is walking away. "Ji-Jihoon!"

"Bye, Soonyoung~"

"That's not fair!"

"Of course, it's fair! I don't kiss losers," he actually sticks out his tongue with that and Soonyoung almost looks like he'll faint.

"Tease!"

"What tease?" Jihoon mutters, and waves at him one last time, smiling coyly, before entering the hotel. As he leans on the mirrored wall of the elevator, he admits to himself secretly that, somehow, he's feeling even happier than when they struck out that last batter and got their win today. He can’t even really understand how he got here. Having the same guy who cornered him when they were twelve, demanding to know how the hell he hit his pitch, telling him the future he painted in his head has Jihoon there with him.

His fingers tighten into fists in his pockets. Damn it, when he considered baseball to be his whole life, he never thought it would be as consuming as this. In his personal life, too. Settled all the way inside his heart. The future, he realizes as he the elvator reaches his floor, doesn't seem so scary when it promises to be filled with all of the things he loves.

⚾

The Busan tournament is in the middle of August, right at the most brutal and humid summer heat. The starting ceremony alone has poor Chan nearly fainting. Jihoon stands at the front of their line, heavy flag in his hands and cap low over his head. For once he’s happy that it’s the first and the last time he’ll be doing this.

When they sing the national anthem, Jihoon does raise his head a little higher and looks around. He finds Wonwoo standing a few rows down. Behind him, there's Soonyoung, who gives him a small wave as he sings, and Jihoon quickly looks away, corners of his mouth quirking up as he finishes the last verse.

He missed him. They text and even call most nights, but it's hard to come up with what to talk about when so much of their life is about baseball and baseball discussion is off the table for the time being.

After the ceremony is done, Jihoon's team plays against a team from Incheon. When he checks his phone before stowing it away there's a new text from Soonyoung.

_good luck on your game, their southpaw has a mean slider but it always flies too high so don't be afraid to swing_.

Jihoon smiles and sends back a _thanks_ and wonders if no baseball talk is really possible for them.

At his first at-bat, Jihoon checked if Soonyoung's advice was correct and saw that, indeed, the sliders were going a little too high, almost unnoticeable except that he's looking for it. He didn't even care that he got struck out, though he could have hit that last fastball down the middle, the information was valuable.

He shares the information with his team and Chan scores an RBI at his next at-bat and Jihoon gets a homerun in the third inning. A few smaller hits happen. Another RBI by Seokmin brings Jun home, and the rest of their lineup continues with consistent hits. All in all, the game is won easily, with Seungkwan pitching the whole time.

Jihoon spots orange in the bleachers when they bow. He feels kind of happy that Soonyoung was watching.

They grab their things out of the dugout, and Jihoon texts Soonyoung a quick, _u do remember we said no baseball talk?_

Soonyoung replies nearly immediately, _but it helped didn't it?:D_

Jihoon can't even deny it.

_focus on your own games!! no distractions_

_yes sir!_

They gather on the bleachers to watch the next game that decides their following opponent, and it ends quickly in the fifth inning. When a third consecutive batter hits a homerun, Seungkwan looks stressed, but Jihoon tells him not to worry. The losing team’s pitcher was throwing meatballs the whole time.

They're given sandwiches by their manager and their coach suggests they watch the Hana Tigers play next since the game earlier ended sooner than expected. Jihoon bites into his sandwich and ignores the small wink Jun gives him when the team agrees to stay.

The Tigers are fielding first with Soonyoung as their starting pitcher. He runs up to the mound and does his obnoxious introduction – arms spreading, bow for every side of the stadium, and then his famous hand claws. The crowd loves it too much but Jihoon suffers quite severely from secondhand embarrassment and, with the way Wonwoo lowers his cap over his face on third base, he thinks maybe Soonyoung's captain relates.

When the game starts, Soonyoung's pitching is excellent. A few people have been whispering about whether or not Soonyoung has _lost touch_ , but all of those rumours are quickly dispersed when Soonyoung strikes out three batters in quick succession and the sides switch. Wonwoo gives Soonyoung a pat on the back as they run to the dugout and Jihoon wonders if he wasn't expecting such drastic improvement either.

"Back in top shape, huh?" Jun mutters. "Was that last time really a fluke…?"

Jihoon stays quiet and finishes off his sandwich, balling up the wrapper in his hand. God, he wants to catch for him so bad, it gets his palms tingling. He wants to be sitting there, feeling Soonyoung's perfect, powerful pitches fly straight into his mitt.

The Tigers win. Although their batters are still not the best, nobody is able to hit off Soonyoung. He pitched beautifully the entire game.

_how was i?_ Soonyoung texts almost immediately after it’s over.

_maybe you were right, i should have kept away from giving you advice_

_hehe that good? if i need to be the best to be worthy of your catching then that's what i'll have to be jihoon_

Jihoon really feels like he might melt right there under the burning August sun.

⚾

The next few games are nice and easy. The team that won by a landslide really was no trouble against Seokmin's pitching and Jihoon's calls, and the team in the following game couldn't get a hit off them either, especially since, as soon as they got used to his inside pitches, Seungkwan swooped in and surprised them with his forkball.

The game following theirs is a Tigers' one again and, since they're playing in the semifinals against whoever wins, they stay to watch.

Mingyu pitches for most of the game and he does a considerably good job, but he does get hit off several times and loses one run in the sixth inning, which prompts his getting switched with Soonyoung at the start of the seventh.

It's clear that hitting against Soonyoung is nearly impossible. Even from the stands, the sound his pitches make when they land in the mitt _look_ loud and potent, the batters swing almost desperately, hoping for a hit they can't make.

In the eighth inning, Vernon gets a hit and then Wonwoo hits an RBI that's followed by a strong hit by Soonyoung, securing them two runs that win them the game. Jihoon doesn't want to be too rude, but there's something comforting knowing that, although the Tiger's pitchers are incredible, their hitting average remains low ever since their third years left.

"Nervous about tomorrow?" Seokmin asks as they're gathered onto the bus.

"No," Jihoon sits on the third row of seats, and this time Seokmin sits next to him, even though it's usually Seungkwan. "Excited actually."

"They can barely hit."

"I'm surprised you noticed that."

Seokmin glares and Jihoon laughs.

"I want to win tomorrow.”

"We will," Jihoon assures him. "Worst case, I'll use my charms~"

Seokmin blinks at him, then smirks. "Finally, I like the way you're thinking, captain!"

Jihoon laughs even louder and, when his phone vibrates in his pocket, he already knows who the text is from.

_ready to lose tomorrow?_

_you should ask yourself that :)_

"Tell him I'll bring him tissues!" Seokmin adds, unabashedly looking at his screen and Jihoon locks his phone, but surprisingly doesn't mind.

⚾

The game is at ten the next day, before the brutal midday heat, but even ten in the morning in the summer is a humid, torturous hour.

Jihoon's team is fielding first. When he had flipped the coin with him earlier, Wonwoo had watched him a little warily. He was polite, overall, but Jihoon had a good feeling he was still nervous over how this game is going to go, how his ace is going to handle playing against Jihoon in such an important game. If Jihoon was nicer, he'd tell Wonwoo not to worry about it, that he might have fucked up his own chances when he gave Soonyoung the motivation of proving his worth to Jihoon. However, since he has his own team’s interest at heart, Jihoon only smiles coyly, showing Wonwoo he knows exactly what the Tiger captain is afraid of.

The first batter is Minghao against Seokmin's pitching. He manages a hit on the second pitch, but it's caught comfortably by Chan on first. Then there’s the first year Jihoon doesn't remember the name of, but knows is horrible at inside pitches. They strike him out easily and shut down the next batter, too, right before the clean-ups.

It's an easy inning, three for three. Seokmin bumps his glove against Jihoon as they run back to the dugout, but the celebrations are early because Jihoon barely has time to take off his gear, before Seungkwan is the third one to be struck out and they're back on the field.

Jihoon tries not to smile to himself. If it was anyone else, it would be terrifying, but the fact that it's Soonyoung... It's exciting, thrilling really.

Vernon, their clean-up, is first to bat. He gets a hit and ends up on second base which irritates Seokmin greatly, especially when the next batter is Wonwoo, with Soonyoung right behind, screaming for Wonwoo to hit far! Hit a homerun! That pitcher throws too high!

Jihoon's brow twitches at that too and when Seokmin's pitch goes a little astray, he asks the umpire for a time out.

"You okay?" He asks, running up to Seokmin. Seokmin takes off his cap and wipes the sweat off his forehead.

"Yeah, yeah. That boy of yours is too loud!"

"You're not too quiet yourself," he pats him on his chest and smiles. "But that's good. Ignore the runner and ignore Soonyoung. Actually, pretend you're having the time of your life right now, maybe it'll get him riled up right back," Jihoon grins and Seokmin smiles, too.

"You can be kind of evil, hyung!"

"I just want to win."

Seokmin nods, looking confident again. "I'll pitch my very best until the end."

"Perfect," Jihoon smiles and goes back to his position, making sure to meet Soonyoung's eyes on his way there.

He crouches, grinning.

Soonyoung looks pissed and, when he looks up at Wonwoo, Wonwoo is also severely annoyed.

 _Heh, whatever,_ Jihoon thinks, asking for the pitch Seokmin is most confident with – a low pitch to the inside.

Wonwoo hits the pitch but it's caught in midair by their left fielder, whose arm is strong enough to throw the ball powerfully all the way to Seungkwan at third, getting Vernon out.

"Two outs!" Jun yells from second and Seokmin grins, two fingers up in a V.

"Two outs!"

When Soonyoung comes up to bat, he seems livid. Jihoon is quiet, watching him, but he can't help but smile slightly to himself. With his temper like that, it'll be easy to strike him out, no matter what.

It takes four pitches – three strikes and one foul – before Jihoon is straightening out and raising his face guard.

"Don't cry too hard when you lose, Soonyoung~" He smiles and it's kind of funny how it's the first thing he's said to him in person in months. For a second, Soonyoung doesn't look up from where he's still glaring at the mound, but finally he meets Jihoon's eyes and smiles sharply.

"You're next to bat, Jihoonie. Don't get too cocky."

Jihoon laughs and hurries back to his dugout to change.

It's been a long time since he has tried hitting off Soonyoung, but the thrill of standing in the batter's box, watching Soonyoung raise his leg in the air before pitching, is just as strong. Jihoon grips his bat tighter and watches the first pitch – a perfect fastball right down the middle.

Vernon is a smart one, clearly. As a catcher himself, he probably knows Jihoon will want to study the pitching before trying to hit. Now Jihoon gave away an easy strike, fucking hell. He leans forward and knows the next one will be trickier and, when it's a crossfire that looks like it'll hit his chest, Jihoon involuntarily leans away.

That's... New. The way Soonyoung smiles at him shows that he knows exactly how surprised Jihoon is. Fuck. It wasn't even a ball! Now Jihoon has two strikes and he definitely has to hit next or he's fucked up his job as a clean-up at his first at-bat, not a very proud start to the game against Soonyoung of all people. He doesn't give away how he feels, and tries to peek at Vernon, but the Tigers have a clever catcher. He doesn't give anything away, he doesn't even shift at the plate at all anymore.

Taking a deep breath through his nose, Jihoon considers how Vernon doesn't really switch up many pitches often and takes a tiny step back when Soonyoung winds up. Damn it, he really wants to hit off him...

When the pitch flies at him from an awkward high angle, Jihoon knows he was right and hits the second-in-a-row crossfire. It pops up into the air and is caught easily by Mingyu in left field, just as Jihoon's foot lands on first base.

"Damn it," he mutters and shakes his head, not stopping as he jogs back to the dugout. Looking over at Soonyoung, he's not surprised to see that he's smiling, watching Jihoon with a cocky twist of his lips.

 _Told you so_.

As lacking as the Tigers' batters might be, Soonyoung really is incredible. He strikes out two batters and the game progresses in quick innings, the score seemingly immovable.

At Jihoon's third at bat, after being struck out again in the fourth inning, he grips the bat hard enough that the leather of his gloves squeaks by his ears over the noise in the stadium. He watches Soonyoung intensely, his excitement, his proud, proud smile. Jihoon thinks in the split second before the pitch flies, that Soonyoung must be throwing that new pitch he loves so much, and manages to hit it perfectly, the ball flying between two outfielders.

Reaching first base, he stays there just to be safe, and passes the base coach his guards.

"How'd you know it was going to be a crossfire?" He asks.

Honestly, Jihoon didn't. He simply had a feeling from seeing Soonyoung’s cocky grin. Still, because Minghao is on first base listening, he has to say something.

"I have my ways.” 

Minghao narrows his eyes but Jihoon ignores him. Yeah, yeah. He can run back to his team with that information if he wishes, Jihoon is going to do his best to score.

Jihoon attempts a steal to second at Soonyoung's first pitch and, luckily, manages. Chan is batting after Jihoon today, grinning as he hovers fearlessly over the plate, an intimidating move for Soonyoung's inside pitches. The next pitch is a strike and when Jihoon pats his left thigh, Chan gives a small nod.

It's going to be an inside pitch, Jihoon is sure of it. As soon as Soonyoung raises his leg, Chan does a step away and hits the ball perfectly, far enough that it looks like it might be a homerun.

The Tigers' fielders were definitely not ready for it to fly so far since nobody is by the fence to catch the ball. Jihoon sprints quicker than he has in his entire life, coming home with seconds to spare. He's picked up by Seokmin when he reaches the dugout and, when he looks over at Chan, he's safe on second base, waving happily at him. He even spares a glance for Soonyoung, his cap low over his eyes not giving anything away as he readies himself for the next batter.

Heh, Jihoon smiles. Feels kind of good to mess with the best pitcher of their generation. A pitcher he can text sweetly after this game and maybe even kiss, too.

It makes him too giddy. He doesn't stop smiling at all as he puts his gear back on and gets to his plate. He grins at Seokmin as he squats in his spot and offers him his open mitt.

Baseball really is too much fun.

⚾

Although they don't manage another run against Soonyoung, Jihoon's was enough, especially when none of the Tigers' batters are able to score. The final whistle blows loudly when Wonwoo’s hit is caught by Jun. He stops halfway to first base, hands on his knees, head ducked low.

Jihoon remembers that first tournament when they lost, the responsibility of it weighing heavy in his gut, especially when he's the _captain_ and he's supposed to take his team to victory.

The Tigers are good, but they still have room to improve. Even if Soonyoung seems impenetrable, they can’t win if they don’t score.

He watches as Soonyoung comes up to Wonwoo and pats him on his back, before walking together to line up and when Jihoon shakes Wonwoo's hand, he nods with a small smile.

"You’re going to win next game?" Wonwoo's voice is hoarse, but Jihoon hears it well over the crowd.

"Don't even doubt it."

Soonyoung has his hand on Wonwoo's shoulder and the other is shaking Jun's before his eyes dart over Jihoon. This time, he doesn't smile back and Jihoon doesn't mind. 

Damn it, though. Now Jihoon is the one who can't stop smiling! Winning really does feel the best...

Seokmin throws a warm, heavy arm over his shoulder, leading them through the dugout up to where the reporters take their interview and Jihoon runs through the typical lines – _we work great together, I love working with a pitcher who follows my calls, once you know your opponent, figuring out their weak points is the funnest part, even if it won't be at the very beginning, the game is nine innings and you'll always find a crack! –_ and the coach smiles approvingly at him when he's done.

"You're getting better at this," he says. "A lot of scouts were here today, and you played amazingly."

"Thank you, coach."

"I'm sure many will be leaving their contact information."

Jihoon smiles. "That's fine with me."

"Is it? You haven't mentioned any plans."

“Well, I am planning to play professional baseball."

"And university?"

"I think I would like to get a degree."

"I'll keep that in mind. Take the team to section 208 to watch the next game."

"Yes, sir."

Jihoon goes over to where the team is in the changing room and he and the managers lead the rest to their usual spot and are handed out bentos. It's only when he's sitting between Seokmin and Seungkwan that he checks his phone and realizes his parents were at the game today.

"Ah, crap. I'll be right back." Seokmin raises an eyebrow at him and Jihoon laughs. "My parents were here, I’m just gonna call them to see if they haven't left already... Actually, I don't even know why I need to explain myself to you."

"Yeah, yeah, captain."

Jihoon calls his mom when he's out in the hallway by the hotdog stand and turns out they're still outside so he hurries over to thank them for coming.

Jihoon's dad is just finishing a cigarette, smiling when Jihoon comes closer, and his mom hugs him tight when she sees him, then rubs a towel all across his face.

"How do you play in this heat?" She mutters. "We almost passed out and you are sitting there in all that equipment!"

"I'm used to it," Jihoon smiles, pulling away slightly. "Did you guys enjoy the game?"

"You were amazing! But if we knew you are going to win, we would have gotten tickets for tomorrow..."

"People around us seemed to have known a lot about you,” his dad says. “I didn't realize you're doing that well."

"Uh, yeah. This year has been very good for us."

"You and that loud Tiger pitcher are very popular," he continues. "They say American teams are scouting you, is that true?"

"Um, some yeah. But I'm not very interested in that."

"Your coach sent us a list–" His mom mentions and Jihoon cuts her off.

"To be honest, I kind of want to focus on this next tournament. I have until January to decide."

"You keep saying that, but that's cutting it close, Jihoonie." His mom is right, and Jihoon knows he shouldn't wait until the end of November to make up his mind, but he has enough offers that he doesn't feel the pressure. It's mostly just that he needs to make the choice, and that choice...

He really doesn't want to make it alone.

"I'll think more about it," he says finally. His parents don't look like they fully believe him, but they drop the conversation for now.

"Would you like to get lunch?"

"I have to stay with the team, sorry."

"Then call us later?"

"Definitely," he lets his mom hug him and smiles at his dad. "Thanks for coming, it means a lot."

"We had a great time."

Well, if his dad says so, it must be true.

He waves bye and takes his phone out of his pocket, seeing a text from Soonyoung.

_can we talk?_

_are you still at the stadium?_ Jihoon texts back.

_yeah, we're watching the game_

Ouch.

_i'm by gate C right now if you want to come_

_ok ill be there in a min_

Jihoon stays in the shade, though it's little help in his heat. He wishes he had brought his sandwich with him. Or at least an apple. He doesn't even have spare change to get a drink... He leans his head on the wall behind him and closes his eyes until there's a soft touch on his shoulder.

"Hey," Soonyoung says with a smile. "Can I get you something to drink?"

"Hi," Jihoon laughs, truly a prince in shining armor. "Sure, actually."

They walk over to a vending machine and Soonyoung gets them two Gatorades and they sit on a bench nearby, drinking in silence. Jihoon kind of just waits for Soonyoung to say the first word. What does one tell their sort of boyfriend when they defeat them? Silence is probably best.

"I played my best today," Soonyoung says finally.

"You did," Jihoon agrees. "But so did we."

"'We'... You really are a team player."

"Do _you_ play baseball by yourself?"

Soonyoung’s hand on his bottle tightens. "You’re right, sorry."

He sounds upset and Jihoon doesn't like it. Discreetly, or so he hopes, he raises a hand and lays it on the back of Soonyoung’s warm neck and bites his lip, smiling.

"Pitchers stand on the mound and think they have all the power in the game, but you didn't lose because _you_ weren't good enough, but because there are others on your team who weren't."

Soonyoung's eyes narrow. "Oi..."

"You are a _team_. If you're so confident about your own playing, pay attention to the rest and guide them."

Soonyoung straightens out. "I do!"

"With your screaming?"

"It's called motivation!"

"You could motivate your team to get better at batting," Jihoon says too helpfully, and Soonyoung actually looks furious for a moment. "Am I wrong?"

Soonyoung sighs, looking away. "No." He's pouting and it's really too cute…

Jihoon's hand is still on the back of his neck and, damn it, he'd like to pull him in and–

"Oh, you're Kwon Soonyoung!" It's a girl's voice and Jihoon's hand drops from his neck as they straighten out. A few female fans come up to tell him they liked the game and when they realize Jihoon is also there, they get even more excited. At least the attention seems to get Soonyoung a little happier and he even agrees to a picture that Jihoon has no choice but to join.

Once they leave, Soonyoung seems to deflate again.

"We should go back," he says and Jihoon nods following Soonyoung back inside the stadium. Both their teams are in the east wing so they walk together in the same direction and, although at first Soonyoung's sulking was kind of funny, now Jihoon seriously wants to cheer him up.

"When do you guys go back to Seoul?"

"Either later today or in the morning."

"Are you mad at me?"

Soonyoung looks over at him almost too quickly. " _No_. But I do hate losing."

"Okay, okay."

"You probably won't be able to meet tonight?"

"Probably not."

"Hmm." With the game going on, there aren't many people around but still, two boys in baseball uniforms attract a lot of attention. "Come with me for a second?"

Soonyoung's eyes flash happily, and he follows Jihoon into a stairwell and all the way down to the basement. There's a door to a storage room, but otherwise it's empty and before either of them can say anything, Soonyoung cups his cheeks and kisses him.

It's a short, sweet kiss and then Soonyoung hugs him.

"You gave me baseball advice again," he whispers.

"Technically you did, too."

"That's true." He leans away and smiles. "It was a good game."

"It was."

"I missed you."

Jihoon feels warm everywhere, as if he's back under that burning August sun. "Me too."

Soonyoung's lashes flutter and he kisses him again.

"Jihoon," he mutters after a while. "Next year–" His voice shakes and doesn't finish his sentence and Jihoon kisses him first this time.

"Ask me after next tournament, okay? We have time.”

“Let me just ask this question, please.”

Jihoon laughs. “Okay.”

“You want to play together, right?” Soonyoung asks in hot puffs against Jihoon's lips. “Because,” his forehead leans against Jihoon’s. “I'd really, really like for us to play together next year, and many years after if… If we like being partners.”

“ _If,”_ Jihoon repeats, with another huff of a laugh.

“Well, I already know I will.”

Jihoon smiles, thinking he knows he will, too.

“I think that’s not a bad idea.”

Soonyoung leans slightly away to look at him, eyes bright again.

“Where do you want to go?” 

“I don’t want to think about it right now…”

“We don’t have _that_ much time, Jihoon.”

"There’s still one more tournament. When we last spoke, we said we can do this as long as there are no distractions, right? If we think too hard about what’s after, how can we do our best _today_?”

“Very wise.” Soonyoung sighs, a little frustrated, but kisses his cheek anyway. “Fine, Jihoonie, I’ll wait. I told you already, didn’t I? I’m waiting for your calls.”

"Where were you for so long, hyung?" Seokmin asks when he's back and Jihoon shakes his head, flustered out of his mind.

"The eighth inning just started," Seungkwan points out, brow raised in suspicion, and only then does Jihoon realize how long he was gone.

"Sorry, my parents had a lot of questions."

They don't look like they believe him but, really, Jihoon doesn't care. His lips won't stop tingling, he feels truly way too happy.

⚾

The months to November crawl slowly, almost torturously. There is a lot more focus on academia, especially for third years who aren't continuing baseball professionally. Although Jihoon and Jun have until winter to make their choice, they still go through a lot of meetings, narrowing down the options. Really, scouts have been asking about Jihoon since March, so waiting until January is almost unheard of, but Jihoon has his own reasons.

_usa?_

Soonyoung texts towards the end of September, a month since they last saw each other. Jihoon sees the message when he's walking back from practice, Jun stretching his arms up in the air beside him.

_i dont know_

_japan? straight to college or professional? give me smth here please.._

Jihoon huffs and Jun looks over at him.

"Trouble in paradise?"

"What paradise?"

"You don't need to hide it from me, you know? I doubt our little underclassmen are that oblivious either, especially when you come back from ‘talking to your parents’,” Jun flicks air quotes around his words, “Dazed out of your mind with your lips all red."

Well, fuck.

"And you know how Chan is such a big Soonyoung fanboy? He found a photo of you two and some fangirls on Instagram on the day of the semifinal, but we decided to stop bothering you over it."

That's surprising. "Why?"

"We only got one tournament left, and we already won two. We're one of the best teams of this year no matter what happens in the next one. We can't keep you on a leash forever and you're clearly not thinking ahead because you're so concerned about us," Jun meets Jihoon's eyes and grins. "We're concerned about you too, you know?"

"Yeah... Thanks."

“So don’t worry too much about us, you have your own future ahead of you. Nobody wants to make you feel bad about what your choices are, or who they’re with.”

They get to their room and Jun grabs his things and goes for the showers while Jihoon opens his chat with Soonyoung.

_i want college, i don't care much about where but i think japan's baseball scene is very interesting and it's not too far_

_seungcheol is in waseda and he loves it_

Waseda... They're the Tokyo school that scouted him. Them and Meiji, but Waseda offered a full scholarship.

_did they scout you too?_ Soonyoung asks first.

_yeah_

_okay :)_

Jihoon smiles and puts the phone away to grab his shower things instead. Soonyoung is being too kind about Jihoon wanting to wait, but what Jun said lifts a weight off his chest. Somehow, it feels reassuring to know that he’s not abandoning his team even if he peeks just a little bit ahead. 

⚾

As winners of last year's Daegu Tournament, Jihoon marches his teammates first into the stadium for the ceremony and, when they stand in line, Jun is snickering behind him like he knows just how uncomfortable he is.

At least it's not under the burning sun. The clouds are a dark grey overhead and Jihoon really hopes there's not much rain in the next few days.

"It's our last time," Jun says by his side, when they walk to the dugout for their first game right after the ceremony.

"Let's make the best of it."

"That's the only way to go."

The games are successful for the most part. Seokmin and Seungkwan do a beautiful pitcher relay every game, switching each time who's starting, and they have both improved so much in the last two years that Jihoon feels seriously lucky to be catching their pitches. He even tells them that after they win the semifinal and they both burst into tears, hugging him between them.

It all happens so _so_ fast. Jihoon can’t even believe the next morning that no matter what happens today, he will be playing his last game of high school baseball career. His last game with this team. Even if it felt so far away months ago, now all he can do is play his best game.

"Get up, captain," Jun nudges him with his foot and Jihoon groans, turning over. "Nervous about playing against your boyfriend again?"

Jihoon tugs his blanket over his head and ignores the question.

If Jihoon was having a great tournament, then the Tigers were having a phenomenal one. Their batters have improved, especially the third years. Soonyoung is hitting nearly every at bat and has surpassed his best pitching speed three times already, while Wonwoo has hit a few home runs, despite never being a strong hitter before. Jihoon follows their games pretty thoroughly. He had a feeling if they were going to end up in the final, they would play against Soonyoung's team. Clearly, he was right.

Whatever is on the line for Jihoon, it’s the same for them, and it's crystal clear in the way they play.

On the bus, Jihoon checks his phone and sees a text from Soonyoung and can't help but smile.

_lets play our best game today_

_always,_ Jihoon replies, and shuts off his phone.

⚾

The thrill of playing against an excellent team is unparalleled and playing against Soonyoung is even more thrilling when his pitches seem impossible to hit and he looks at you with what he calls his fiercest tiger's gaze. He's phenomenal, really. Jihoon can't hit his pitches at all, he can't even read him anymore, not with a dozen pitches up his sleeve and the frustrating sensation of, _god, I want to try catching those_ , and knowing that soon he might be able to.

Seokmin does a great job holding the batters at bay, but Wonwoo is fueled by his own determination and hits nearly to the fence in the third inning, taking himself all the way to third base. Vernon follows, the Tiger's own clean-up-catcher, and, by some miracle, hits a homerun off Seokmin's best slider, taking them both home.

Soonyoung at-bat is next and Jihoon calls a time-out, running over to Seokmin.

"You good?"

"Hell no," he grits. His eyes are still fired up, though, so it doesn't look like he's totally crushed. Yet, at least. "You're not just talking to me to piss him off, right?"

"He's not a very good batter," Jihoon says. "If it pisses him off, that's a bonus. But I just want to make sure you're okay. _You_ are my pitcher, right now, Seokmin. I'm not thinking of anyone else."

"Yeah, yeah, hyung with his big words. But after today..." Seokmin shakes his head and gives Jihoon a smile, not nearly as bright as usual and Jihoon frowns.

"Why are you thinking about what's after? Right now we're here, and we want to win _here._ You and me. _Our_ battery."

Seokmin takes in a big breath, and breathes it out through his nose. "Jihoon-hyung?"

"Mm?"

"It really was a privilege to play with you."

"Hey, hey… Let's win this game first, then you can tell me whatever, okay?"

Seokmin meets his eyes and when he smiles, he seems a little lighter. "Yes, sir!"

"Alright," Jihoon taps his chest with his mitt and runs back. When he looks over at Soonyoung, he's smiling, standing casually in his box.

"Can't wait to learn about all the things you tell your pitchers~" He teases and Jihoon ignores him, squatting and signaling for Seokmin to pitch his four seamer. The one that flies through the center and dips right before the plate.

Soonyoung hits the pitch, but it pops too high in the air and is caught easily by Seokmin on the mound. Soonyoung didn't even try to run.

"Ugh," he groans and doesn't look at Jihoon before the next batter comes in and Jihoon laughs to himself.

"Nice pitch, Seokmin-ah!"

When Seokmin grins back at him, it's with his usual brightness again.

⚾

In the end, they couldn't score against the Tigers at all. Jihoon finally scored a run in the sixth inning, but when he gets a hit in the ninth, he's left stranded on third without even a bunt to bring him home. The final whistle blows, and he's abandoned by Wonwoo who runs over to Soonyoung, celebrating with their team.

Seokmin was at bat, struck out swinging, and Jihoon watches as he crouches, head in his arms, unmoving.

"Seokmin-ah," Jihoon says, coming up to him on the way to the dugout. Now that he's closer, he sees his shoulders shaking. He squats next to him, hand on the back of his neck. "Seokmin, come on. Let's go line up."

"I couldn't bring you home," he sobs into his arms.

"That's okay," he says gently. "It was a good game."

It really was, too. Seungkwan switched with Seokmin in the fifth inning, going to right field, and Seungkwan held the Tigers off perfectly. They only lost two runs to Vernon's homerun, the rest of their fielding game was ideal.

"It was nobody's fault," Jihoon says. He notices someone approaching but doesn't look away from Seokmin. "We are playing a team sport, there is no one person to blame. We play together, we win together, and sometimes we lose together. You took me this far, Seokmin, all of you. I played with this team as long as I could and, really, I couldn’t be happier. So let's... Let's go line up, okay?"

"Beautiful last words from our captain," Seungkwan says from where he has stepped in front of Seokmin, offering his hand. Seokmin huffs, wiping his nose on his undershirt and lets Seungkwan pull him up.

"Is my face all red?" He mutters and Jihoon pats his back.

"A little."

"God," Seokmin sniffs before he starts crying again. "I'm too upset to pretend to be nice right now!"

Some of the opposite team definitely hears him and when Jihoon meets Seungkwan's eyes they burst out laughing.

"I'm allowing you to be as rude as you want, then," Jihoon says quietly. "But don't tell anyone." Seokmin looks over at him with bloodshot eyes, and Jihoon grins. As if Seokmin could ever be mean, anyway.

In the end, Seokmin's "cruelty" translates through no smiling, which really isn't uncalled for since they did just lose the final. Jihoon shakes Wonwoo's hand, and Wonwoo tries to keep his smile down but it's futile.

"It was a good game," Wonwoo says, with an attempt at a straight, polite face.

"Yeah, yeah, easy for you to say."

Soonyoung is next in line to shake his hand and he's grinning shamelessly, like he's on top of the world.

"Excited for what’s next?" He asks quietly but there's no real time to reply, before the line moves along again. Then there's the painstakingly long wait through the awards ceremony, only to be given silver medals. Seokmin is still sniffing by his side and Jihoon keeps his hand on his back, steadying him the whole time. It's kind of cute that Seokmin is such a cry baby. Jihoon can't help but smile, even if he does feel quite sad.

There's no time to mingle before the coach gathers them all and gives the team an encouraging speech. If Jihoon tears up... He won't admit it to anyone. Jun stays grinning the whole time, but Jihoon knows if he were to look closer, he would find his eyes just a little glassy.

"We're lucky," Jun says, sitting next to Jihoon on the bus. Seokmin still refuses to talk to anyone, and even Seungkwan can't help with bringing him back from the numbness just yet.

"How so?"

"Well, in Japan, they have their Nationals. So losing a game like this, there is much more at stake. But no matter what happened today, we played the most we could have, we already got the farthest."

Jihoon smiles. "That's true."

"But I guess I still prefer winning."

"Me too."

"I'm going to miss this team."

Jihoon sighs, looking out the window. "Yeah, me too," he agrees again, and they ride back to school in silence.

⚾

They have a celebratory dinner that evening. It's a little too grand considering they lost, but it was likely prepared with the possible win in mind. Plus it's kind of a farewell gift, so it’s nice that it’s a little fancy. 

Seokmin doesn’t let Jihoon leave his side the whole time, serving him anything he wants. 

“What’s gotten into him?” Jihoon asks Seungkwan across from them. 

“Can’t I be nice to my hyung?!”

Jihoon smiles at Seokmin warily. “I mean, sure, but this is…” Seokmin stares at him, waiting for an explanation and Jihoon lets it go. “Nevermind, just pass me some more rice and kimchi please.”

Jun sits on Jihoon’s other side and he snickers knowingly. “He doesn’t want to let you go~ His second battery wife is leaving him,” he pretends to sulk and Jihoon crinkles his nose. 

“I hate that metaphor.”

“Yeah, yeah, sorry. His battery _husband_.” 

Jihoon actually doesn’t know if that’s better. 

“It doesn’t have to be like that either!” Seokmin argues. “Just like Jeonghan-hyung, Jihoon-hyung gave me the best baseball years of my life, how else can I repay him?!”

“You two might still play again, you know?” Seungkwan reminds him and Seokmin’s lips purse as if he has already accepted that that’s impossible. 

Ah… Jihoon thinks he finally understands what’s going on here. 

Before he can address it, the lights are suddenly shut off and a lit up cake is brought in, the whole team singing _happy birthday_ as they set it right in front of Jihoon’s face.

“Oh,” Jihoon says stupidly. 

Seungkwan already has his phone out and he’s grinning behind the screen. 

“Make a wish, Captain!”

“My birthday is next week–” 

“No arguments! Blow out the candles, hyung!” Seokmin tells him and Jun pats Jihoon’s back. 

Jihoon grins at his team and closes his eyes, blowing out his candles without really thinking of anything beyond the dream of playing more baseball forever. 

“Thanks, you guys.” 

“We also have a present for you,” their right field says, passing Jihoon a folded sweater and when he unfolds it, there’s Daegu Sports Academy written over the right breast and on the back of it, a big and bold LEE in English with signatures underneath from the whole team. 

“Keep it forever, okay? And don’t forget about us,” Seokmin says quietly and Jihoon nods, fingers sinking into the soft material of the sweatshirt.

“Never. Seriously, I loved playing on this team.”

He really really means it, too. 

⚾

Jihoon wears the sweater for the rest of the dinner. The cake is a dark chocolate and Jihoon likes it, despite not having the craziest sweet tooth. When his phone won’t stop vibrating in his pocket, he finally takes it out and sees a missed call from Soonyoung as well as some texts. 

“I’m going to go take this,” he mutters and although Seokmin frowns he doesn’t stop him. 

Outside, it’s chilly, and Jihoon is glad for the hood on the sweatshirt for keeping the wind from reaching his neck. The texts from Soonyoung are short, _good game_ and _call me?_ Clearly he couldn’t wait because he called first, and Jihoon smiles slightly to himself before returning the call. 

“Jihoon!”

“Hey,” Jihoon says softly. 

“You’re not mad are you?!” 

“It’s not all about you! I’m celebrating with my team.” 

“Celebrating,” Jihoon can hear the smirk in his voice. “Are you sure about that?” 

“Do you want me to hang up?”

“Of course not!” Soonyoung huffs. “I want to see you.” 

“Tonight?” 

“I go back to Seoul tomorrow. We have things to discuss, you know!” 

“You’re quick.” 

“I’ve been _waiting_ , Jihoon. Very patiently, for a looong time!” 

“Fine, fine. Tell me when you’re here.”

“Huh? How do you know I’m coming?!”

“I can hear you’re on the subway. They just announced the next station.” Soonyoung is silent and Jihoon laughs. “Just tell me when you’re here.” 

“Bring your gear, smartass.” 

“That’s no way to talk to your catcher~” 

Soonyoung’s gasp is audible. “You–!” 

Jihoon hangs up, grinning to himself and when Soonyoung calls again, he doesn’t pick up the phone. 

_you can’t just say things like that!!_

_come quickly i’m cold_

_ughhghghghghghghghg_

“Jihoon-hyung,” he hears suddenly, nearly dropping the phone from surprise. 

“Seokmin. I’m…” 

“It doesn’t matter,” Seokmin smiles kindly, but it doesn’t reach his eyes. “I really…” He stops, swallowing, gathering his words. “I really wanted to thank you. For these past few years, especially… Especially since Jeonghan left and you were so kind and patient with me. I don’t know what I would have done without you.” 

“You would’ve been just fine. You _will_ be just fine, Seokmin.” 

“Jihoon,” he says. He looks close to tears. “Am I a bad pitcher?” 

Jihoon pushes off the wall to face him better. “ _No_. Not at all. You’re amazing.” 

“Then why… Jeonghan and you. It feels like everyone is _leaving_.” Jihoon opens his mouth and Seokmin shakes his head. “I’m not talking about graduation, I know that. And I know… I know Jeonghan had his own reasons and I know you do, too, but… I wish I was a pitcher who was worth keeping, worth playing with again.” 

Jihoon doesn’t know what to say. 

“You don’t need to say anything,” Seokmin adds, as if seeing through his thoughts but Jihoon _wants_ to say something because...

“It’s not like that, Seokmin. You are amazing to play with, you bring up morale and you appreciate everything a catcher does for you, that’s pretty special in a pitcher. Nobody is leaving _you_ , Seokmin. Jeonghan has to take care of his arm and I… Well, with Soonyoung it’s…” Okay. He really doesn’t know how to explain it and Seokmin smiles. 

“Sorry, it’s okay. I know all that. Today just feels like crap because it all feels like my fault.”

“It’s not–” 

“It feels like it though, okay? Maybe tomorrow I’ll feel better, I definitely will in a few months. But today, it’s shit. Especially since it was my last game with you and I wish… I wish I could have shown you a better result of everything you’ve taught me.”

“Seokmin-ah…” Jihoon smiles. “You really are the kindest. You’re going to make many catchers very, very happy. And you know what? Pro-baseball is a mess, we’ll probably end up playing together again at some point.”

“As if Soonyoung will let you play with anyone else once he gets his hands on you.” 

Jihoon clicks his tongue. “You pitchers are so selfish. What about who _I_ want to play with? I also have my preferences, and I like pitchers who listen well and appreciate my calls and everything I teach them.” 

Seokmin smiles and bows at his waist. “I’ll never forget you, Lee Jihoon!” 

“Okay, enough,” Jihoon laughs. “I’m still around until March, I’ll probably have to help the first year catcher, too, so until then I’ll keep catching for you as well, deal?”

“Then how about tomorrow morning?!” 

“We rest tomorrow!” 

“Then after tomorrow–” 

Jihoon’s phone vibrates in his hand and he sees it’s Soonyoung calling.

“I gotta go. Rest tomorrow, we’ll talk after.” 

“Then you’ll catch for me the day after tomorrow, right? So don’t stay out too late and catch a cold, Jihoon-hyung!”

Jihoon’s cheeks warm and he waves with the hand holding his phone. “Go back inside, Seokmin, you’re the one without a sweater.” 

“I’m warm blooded!” 

Sure thing, being the sunshine and all, Jihoon thinks, despite himself, and answers the call as he makes his way to his room to grab his equipment.

“I’m at the field,” Sooyoung says as soon as Jihoon picks up. 

“I’m just getting my things.” 

When Jihoon gets there, Soonyoung is sitting in the dugout, face lit up by the screen of his phone, the glow accentuating his cheeks. He only looks up when he hears Jihoon come closer. 

“Hey,” Jihoon says. “Did you bring your glove?” 

Soonyoung smiles and gets up.

They take their positions wordlessly and Soonyoung spins his arm a few times to warm it up, before asking if Jihoon is ready. Jihoon only offers his mitt, open and steady, and nods. 

“I can show you everything?” 

“Anything you want.” 

“Hmmm…” Soonyoung winds up and throws the cutter that struck Jihoon out earlier. 

Jihoon laughs, catching the ball comfortably in his mitt. 

“Looks different when you don’t need to hit it.” 

“Bad different?” 

“Of course not,” he smiles, throwing the ball back. “Nice ball, Soonyoung.” 

The grin Soonyoung gives him is big and gorgeous, and Jihoon thinks back on that one conversation with Jeonghan where they discussed batteries and how some of them will feel special. They will send a thrill up your spine with each throw. They will make you want to play like this forever. 

He doesn’t know what it is about Soonyoung. He wonders if it’s his pitching only, or because he kind of likes to kiss him now, but something pulls Jihoon towards him constantly. He wants to sit there catching his cutters and forkballs and crossfires and see what else he’ll throw for him and, if all of that can come with Soonyoung’s pretty eyes, fiery words and warm embrace… Maybe that’s what makes it all that much more worth it. 

Soonyoung throws another ten pitches, each one different but no less amazing and then he stops, wiping his forehead. 

“Jihoon,” he says finally.

“Yeah?” 

Soonyoung looks at him, eyes sharp and alive and demanding. 

“I’ve been waiting for your call for too long. I already… I already pitched you everything I want! When are you going to finally catch it?!” 

Jihoon blinks. 

“What?” 

Even in the dark, Jihoon can tell Soonyoung’s cheeks have darkened. 

“You’re the one with your baseball metaphors all the time!” 

“Maybe we should stop with that then.” 

“Now you say that?! And really, what’s so bad about them anyway! Baseball is our life. If it’s the best way we can express ourselves then–” 

He stops when he sees Jihoon put out his mitt again, smiling.

“Then express yourself. Show me what you want.” 

“How many times…” Soonyoung sneers, raising his leg and winding with a loud ambiguous _GURUGHRUGH_ before he finally throws, screaming, “I want _you_ , you bastard!” 

The ball lands soundly into his mitt, right over his heart and Jihoon smiles. 

He gets up, coming to him and Soonyoung stills entirely, as if not really expecting him to, but his eyes stay alive and burning, as if completely prepared to strike him out when needed. 

“Are you sure?” 

Soonyoung lets out something resembling a growl before his eyes light up even brighter. “Of course I’m sure! I’ve been sure since we were twelve and you hit my pitch because of some stupid tell I’m sure I didn’t even have! I was sure when I saw you again two years ago, when I played against you last year, when I took you to dinner, when you showed me Busan, when I _kissed_ you, when _you_ kissed _me_ , and I’ve been sure every day since! I’ll be sure tomorrow, too, Jihoon, so just tell me… Catch my goddamn pitch already!” 

“You’re so…” 

“What?” 

Jihoon has no words to say that could outdo whatever Soonyoung just uttered right into his face with no shame at all. So he does the next best thing, wrapping his gloveless hand around the back of his neck and pulling him down to kiss him right on top of the mound. Soonyoung kisses back, fervently, one hand cupping his cheek, while his glove digs into the small of Jihoon’s back. 

“Where should we go next year, partner~?” Jihoon asks finally and Soonyoung's eyes flash with seomthing resembling tears. Maybe all pitchers are the same brand of crybaby, too, Jihoon thinks with a teasing smile.

“Fuck you. I’ve had a list ready since May, just so you know!” 

“Is Waseda on there?” 

“I hate you.” 

“You really don’t.”

“I really, really don’t,” Soonyoung agrees, kissing him and Jihoon catches it, _wants_ to catch anything Soonyoung throws at him again, again, and again. 

⚾ ⚾ ⚾

“Eugh.” 

“How much longer…” Wonwoo says, checking his watch. “We need to be back by eleven.”

“If Jihoon-hyung gets a cold because of your pitcher and can’t catch for me–” Seokmin scowls.

“How’s it my fault?!” 

“You’re the one who brought him here!” 

“No, I just followed him. Last time he got in real trouble because he showed up past curfew,” Wonwoo admits while Jun laughs quietly.

“Dude, they’re really going at it,” Jun snickers, taking out his phone to film.

“We should stop them.”

“Are you volunteering to go?” 

“Hell no.” 

“I’ll go!” Seokmin rolls up his sleeves and starts to stand but Jun grabs one of his belt loops and pulls him back. 

“Nah, don’t. They’ve been trying to keep it in their pants for a long time.” 

“We do have _curfew_ , you know?” Wonwoo points out. 

“This is true love! Let them have this!” 

"You say as you're filming..."

“And when true love is the reason my catcher has a forty degree fever?!” 

“I’m not anyone’s catcher!” Jihoon says and they all finally realize they're being too loud. 

“Well, actually he’s _my_ catcher now. _Forever_ ,” Soonyoung grins, throwing an arm around Jihoon’s shoulders and Jihoon shrugs it off. 

“Take him back,” he tells Wonwoo with a small grin.

“Lee Jihoon!” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hehe<3 thank u to monah for running the fest and motivating me to write snhn again. and thank u for all the kind comments... honestly u guys are the best ever i'm really happy i decided to write this!!! i hope everyone is healthy and doing well, love u guys really, until next time❤️ 
> 
> (also pls watch daiya.. u wont regret it)


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